Mumbai: Wishes poured in for actor Govinda who turned 56 today. Known for his dancing skills, Govinda has received twelve Filmfare Award nominations, a Filmfare Special Award, a Filmfare Award for Best Comedian and four Zee Cine Awards.
As much as he was loved for his professional life, his love life never came under scrutiny as he is happily married to his childhood friend, Sunita, since 1987.
But Sunita was not the only love in Govinda’s life. He was madly in love with his Ilzaam co-star, Neelam Kothari. The couple gave the industry many successful films with their sparkling chemistry.
In an interview, the Govinda confessed that he fell deeper and deeper in love with Neelam with every moment they spent together. Govinda confessed that Neelam was an ideal girl whom every guy visualises as a life partner, and he wanted to marry her.
Back then, Govinda was also dating Sunita. Sunita and Govinda had a lot of fights because of Neelam. Govinda had even broken off his engagement with Sunita for Neelam as he wanted to marry her. But Govinda’s mother wanted him to marry Sunita so he married her instead.
Apart from Neelam, Govinda was also rumoured to be dating Rani Mukerji. The two developed an affair during the shoot of Had Kar Di Apne. However, they called off their relationship after media reports came out of Sunita threatening to walk out of the marriage.
Govinda began his career with Ilzaam (1986) and with his first film as the lead hero in Tan Badan (1986), he established himself as a star. He featured in a number of films ranging from family dramas to psychological thrillers.
With films like Awaargi (1990), Achanak (1998) and Shikari (2000), Govinda proved his versatility as an actor, essaying characters with grey shades. However, his claim to fame remains the typical Hindi masala films where he donned flower-printed shirts and jazzy trousers in the 90s. His songs from the era are often played in dance parties even now and make the public groove to his tunes. He made cheap and ‘chichora’ songs cool and guys aspired to be like him while girls wanted a man as funny as him in their lives!
On the professional front, fans are waiting for Govinda to make his comeback to mainstream cinema once again.