Happy Ending	Kill/Dil

A look at the multiplex roster this week may just make you think you have time travelled back to the ’90s. Yes, there are two Govinda films playing at cinemas, taking me back to my days as a teen when Hero No. 1 would jostle for space with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan at a single screen theatre. Govinda the funnyman stars in Happy Ending while Govinda the frownyman stares out of the posters of Kill/Dil.

Right through the ’80s, I was a Mithun fangirl, with the moves of Disco Dancer at the tip of my toe and the dialogues of Dance Dance at the tip of my tongue. In fact, when Govinda burst onto the scene in the mid-’80s and was hailed as Mithun’s challenger, I made it a point not to watch any of his films. Cut to the ’90s, with Mithun well past his prime and with a Govinda film being played almost every day by the local cable guy, I had no choice but to tune in. And I was hooked.

Raja Babu to Dulaara, Dulhe Raja to Coolie No. 1, Saajan Chale Sasural to Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Govinda — with some help from David Dhawan and Karisma Kapoor — became a phenomenon, starring in as many as 16 films in 1994-95. Out of the 16, 14 were comedies... all huge hits.

Which is what Govinda has been to his fans across the world — a man who could make us ROFL with a twitch of the eyebrow or a movement of the hand. A funnyman who gave Bolly comedy a new spin, lending as much colour to his characters as he packed into his wardrobe (with red pants, green shirt and yellow scarf, he had made colour-blocking a trend a decade before the fashion world woke up to it).

His laugh-a-minute one-liners, unbelievable facial gymnastics, spontaneous dance moves, uncanny ability to light up the screen… Govinda was a riot. Even when he mouthed a double-meaning dialogue or made us cringe with those Sarkailo khatiya pelvic thrusts, that beguiling smile made us want to go back to a Govinda film one more time. We went back to catch a glimpse of him going Mere daddoo pehne diaper, chashme pe unke wiper or put the remote on freeze every time he sang: Meri pant bhi sexy, meri shirt bhi sexy…’ Today, I go back to Bade Miyan… not for Amitabh Bachchan’s Bade, but for Govinda’s Chote and Partner deserves a rewatch much more for Govinda the madcap than it does for Salman Khan the cool guy.

Which is why I watched Happy Ending first and Kill/Dil later, even though Happy Ending released a week later. The Saif Ali Khan-starrer has Govinda — playing ageing single-screen superstar Armaan now wanting to make inroads into the plex audience — in his elements, punching all the right comedy buttons. His role may not be meaty and his screen time lesser than Ranvir Shorey’s, but Govinda gives Happy Ending a much-needed adrenaline shot every time he makes an appearance. Whether it is his tryst with a cosmetic surgery clinic where he has six-pack abs ‘drawn’ on his sagging paunch to show the surgeon what he exactly wants or his first meeting with Saif’s Yudi where he gives him DVDs of Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers and tells him to copy-paste them into a single Bolly film!

His ability to deliver those comic punches with a straight face remains intact. Sample: Armaan: “Mujhe youth-waale (audience) ko capture karna hai”. Yudi: “Doodhwaale ko?” Armaan: “Youth! Chai nahin, picture bana rahaa hoon main!” And then, of course, those priceless dance moves, with Govinda letting his face do as much talking as his feet in G phaad ke.

And that’s why it is Govinda the dancer who hooks much more than Govinda the dangerman in Kill/Dil. He’s attempted serious before — with success in Hatya, with failure in Shikari — but the Govinda fangirl in me loved his super cool moves in the Kill/Dil title track far, far more than those glowering looks as a villain he tried to pull off — rather unsuccessfully — in the film’s more intense moments. But the audience that grew up on the funnyman had a ball every time he let slip something vintage Govinda… like that classic Pushpa joke: “Agar ek ladki apne pitaji ko chhat se dhakail de toh usey kya kahenge?” Answer: “Push-pa!” Followed by... no, not that villainous laughter, but by that trademark chuckle.

Welcome back, G-Man!

 

What is your comeback message for Govinda? Tell t2@abp.in