Actor Govinda has addressed the buzz about his personal life and criticism of some of the choices he made, claiming that he is not the only Bollywood celebrity whose name has been mired in controversies.

In a recent podcast, the 62-year-old named Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna as stars who have faced public scrutiny over life choices in the past.

Rumours about a rift between Govind and his wife Sunita Ahuja flooded social media feeds earlier this year, with allegations and speculation adding fuel to fire.

“Whose name is spotless in this line? Are you mad? One who has a spotless name must be a dangerous person,” Govinda told YouTuber Siddharth Kannan on the latter’s podcast.

“Sometimes they (rumours) got out of proportion. Look, in this film industry, everyone at some point is forced out and given a bad reputation. You see, legendary Amitabh Bachchan was the perfect actor in the film industry, right? But he was absent for 14–15 years. Why? Did he not show up on time for shoots? Look at Rajesh Khanna. In the middle of his career, there was an entire group of people saying, ‘No, it’s not good, this is wrong, that is wrong, he looks strange.’ Again, why? It’s a phase you have to go through. How you come out of it, that’s the game,” Govinda added.

The Coolie No. 1 actor also stated Aamir Khan’s example. In his early days, Aamir had a ‘bad reputation’ in Bollywood, but that narrative eventually changed, and now he is defined as the ‘perfectionist’, said Govinda.

About viral videos of Govinda performing at school events in Pratapgarh, the actor said, “The ones they are calling 'small' are associated with a chief minister. And the second one is a Member of Parliament. That's what they're calling small.”

He added, “Social media isn't really under anyone's control. People can create whatever headlines they want there.”

On the work front, Govinda’s last big screen release was Rangeela Raja (2019).