Govinda’s daughter Narmada Ahuja aka Tina recently discussed the differences between her father and director David Dhawan and the widespread perception that it affected her Bollywood debut.
Although Govinda and director David Dhawan played a key role in each other’s careers for many years, their relationship, both professionally and personally, soured in the early 2010s. This led to a long period of silence between the two, making their feud one of the biggest feuds in Bollywood.
However, they reconciled last year, much to the delight of fans, as it opened up the door for them to work together in the future. Recently, Govinda’s daughter Narmada Ahuja aka Tina discussed the differences between the two old friends and the widespread perception that it affected her Bollywood debut.
Tina Ahuja, who made her acting debut with the romantic comedy Second Hand Husband (2015), did not see her career take off as expected. Despite this, she has no resentment towards Govinda and Dhawan for not giving her a chance to move ahead in her career. Instead, she believes that none of them had any obligation to help her and feels that every individual should make their own career.
“Interesting, but honestly, I felt – why should they? Why should it be like this… In short, nobody took the responsibility to give me a break. And why should they? If they thought something would be right for me, they would have done it. It’s not about that. I think you can’t depend on others all the time,” she said during an interaction with Bollywood Bubble.
“And to be honest, I don’t even think about these things. I never thought, ‘Oh, they should have launched me.’ No, I mean, nobody has taken my contract. At any given point in time, I do what I think is best for me. That’s what I’ve learnt from my father – never depend on anyone. You can’t be a nagging child at all,” he said.
Govinda and Dhawan’s professional journey began with the filmmaker’s debut film Takkar (1989). They also worked together in films like Swarg, Shola Aur Shabnam, Aankhen, Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, Saajan Chale Sasural, Banarasi Babu, Deewana Mastana, Hero No. 1, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Kunwara, Jodi No. 1, Kyun Ki… Main Jhooth Nahi Bolta, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah and Partner.
Their last film together was Do Knot Disturb (2009). In 2015, Govinda announced that he had distanced himself from Dhawan, saying that the filmmaker did not support him during tough times. “I don’t want to work with David Dhawan because he did not support me during my bad times,” he was quoted as saying by Times of India.
A year ago, Govinda had released a statement clarifying his frustrations with Dhawan, in which he revealed that The idea for Chashme Badoor (2013) came to him in 2009, but Dhawan decided to cast Rishi Kapoor in the film instead. Despite their past feud, the two reconciled last year, insisting that they wanted to “let the past be bygones.”
