One of the most successful director-actor duos of Bollywood are friends no more. Close friends of Govinda and David Dhawan have known about the ‘Great Divide’ for years, but now the war is out in the open. In a recent interview to television journalist Rajat Sharma, Govinda has spoken on his rift with Dhawan in a highly sarcastic and critical tone.
“I don’t think even his son will do 17 movies with him, because he is David Dhawan’s son and he’s educated. I didn’t even know the meaning of doing that many movies with an actor. I did not even treat my relatives the way I treated him. Even my brother is a director, but I haven’t done 17 films with him. I don’t know what he was expecting, but when I narrated him the concept of Chashme Badoor, he started doing it with Rishi Kapoor, without even keeping me in the loop. When my secretary was in conversation with him, I had changed a little as I left politics. I had asked my secretary to keep the phone on speaker while talking to him, and that’s when I heard, ‘ChiChi has started questioning way too much. I don’t want to work with him anymore. Ask him to do any small role that he gets,” the actor said.
While David refused to react to the statement, a source close to the filmmaker says, “Even David can make a lot of claims as to why their friendship soured. And if Govinda thinks the 17 films that he did with David are reason for him to be eternally indebted, then David too could turn around and say the same. But he won’t.”
The source adds that the cause for Govinda’s bitterness is professional jealousy. “Govinda didn’t like it when David began working with other actors like Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. It happens with the best director-star duos. It took Salman Khan ten years to forgive Sanjay Leela Bhansali for working with Shah Rukh Khan after doing three films with Salman.”
The source concludes that David is fine with Govinda’s tirade. “It shows how deeply Govinda cares for David. Only those who are close to you can hurt you, and David knows that. He will reach out to his angry friend once the temperature cools down,” says the source.
