Pursuit: Govinda never refused an interview. He just never showed up. Even ambushes didnt work.I was an early convert to the cult of Govinda. When I joined INDIA TODAY in June 1993, the first article I wrote was about the monster success of the Govinda-Chunky-monkey hit,Aankhen. But back then, Govinda was strictly aceetee audience pleasure. You couldn't admit in public, specially the rimmed-glasses, dressed in black, Quentin Tarantino-quoting type public, that you were a Govinda admirer. That you believed he was a hugely talented performer, that you enjoyed his resolutely bad dress sense, his Dada Kondkesque, earthy-bordering-on-vulgar expressions, and his absolute unselfconscious, unpretentious enjoyment of his art.And then one day, everything changed. It's difficult to say when Govinda crossed from coarse to cool, but suddenly mini-skirted models were jiving toTeri nani mari to main kya karunin discos, Shobha De declared that Govinda has "a native intelligence and a terrific sense of humour", and even Parmeshwar Godrej, the high priest of Mumbai style, bowled over by Govinda's "ishytle" got him to endorse Godrej's Ganga soaps. Naturally then, INDIA TODAY, which had long resisted Govinda, decided to explore the man's mystique. But being a believer is not the same thing as getting an interview.Interviewing Govinda is a little like experiencing a David Dhawan film - zany, funny, exasperating and unpredictable. Even the excuses offered by his confused, but unfailingly polite, uncles and secretary are original. "Of course madam, he would love to do the interview but he's thinking of taking the family to Bangkok this evening." After one week of daily phone calls, I gave up.Then came thebhabhiji phase. I'm married to a filmmaker, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Some weeks later, Vinod spied Govinda's white Mercedes in Film City. He stopped it, jumped out of his car and thrust a mobile phone at the very surprised star. "Here, speak to my wife, she's been trying to reach you for weeks." I becamebhabhiji, as in "Bhabhiji, aap kyun takleef karti hain, main aapke ghar aake struggle karunga," (translation: I want to work with Vinod). I protested, saying that I would come over. Replied Govinda: "Kyun? Main aapke ghar nahin aa sakta? Aapko chai pilane mein koi takleef hai?" His receptionist even called to confirm our address and warn us that Govinda was just completing his pooja and would arrive within the hour. He never came.Two months later, Kulbhushan Gupta, Govinda's producer and family friend from his poverty-stricken Virar days, finally organised an interview. He was charming, gracious and utterly apologetic. "Vinodji kya sochenge. Ek interview nahin de sakta to yeh aadmi film kaise karega." He spoke honestly and emotionally about his life and art, about his mother and God. On the day the photo shoot was scheduled, he decided, on a whim, to have aSatyanarayan ki poojain his Madh Island bungalow. His film shootings were delayed for several hours. "That can wait," his uncle explained, "God can't." We all trudged to the far-flung location, prayed with him for several hours, ate prasad and managed to take a few photographs before he got into his car and sped away to waiting producers. "The problem with Govinda," one of his producers said to me, off the record, of course, "is that he just can't say no. Thank God he's not a woman."Published By: AtMigration Published On: Sep 4, 2012--- ENDS ---
