Govinda and David Dhawan reunite: Here's what happened between B-town's most iconic director-actor duo

New Delhi, India

Govinda and David Dhawan are keeping everything behind for good. The famous actor and director duo have given a bunch of hits together in the 90s, such as Hero No 1, Coolie No 1, Raja Babu, Bade Miyaan Chhote Miyaan and others. 

After years of collaboration, Govinda and David had a fallout over the casting of Rishi Kapoor in the 2013 movie Chashme Baddoor. However, now the actor has confirmed his patch-up with the director after years of feuding.

Govinda and David recently attended Ramesh Taurani's Diwali party. After this, the Partner actor shared a picture with David on his Instagram. 

However, now the actor has confirmed that everything is fine between them. Speaking to the Bombay Times, he said, "I am glad people still feel that we should work together. Yeh unka pyaar hai. (This is there love) our patch-up had already happened. This was our second meeting. It was a Diwali bash where we ate good food and had a great time. We don’t believe in raking up the past. Why mull over it? That’s not necessary. Let bygones be bygones. Filmy talk wasn’t a priority, but when that happened, we only spoke about the happy memories and those were plenty."

Talking further, Govinda has also talked about attending an industry party after 19–20 years and why he distanced himself from Bollywood parties.

“I stepped out for an industry party after 19-20 years because it was an industry party and not a group party. Ramesh Taurani is a good person. Over the years, Bollywood parties have become these group parties, and if you don’t belong to a certain group (camp), you aren’t invited. If you are not seen at these parties, it is assumed that you aren’t social, which is wrong. I am not anti-social at all, and I don’t believe in groups. Back then, people used to say Govinda, Shakti Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor and David Dhawan are a group. I didn’t agree with that either. We are all artistes who worked together,” he said. 

What happened between Govinda and David?

Govinda and David are one of the most iconic director-actor duos of Bollywood, and together they have produced several blockbuster films. However, their partnership soured when David opted to cast Rishi Kapoor in Chashme Baddoor instead of Govinda.

"When I completed 17 films with him, I told him the subject of Chashme Baddoor and he started the film with Rishi Kapoor. And when he was shooting the film, I called him and he said, 'Tu sun toh mein kaise film bana raha hoon.Then I said, 'Tu mujhe kehta toh - subject bhi utha lia" said Govinda.

However, he never decided to work with David after he was left shocked by the director's action. He told the Indian news channel India TV back then, "After I left politics, I told my secretary to keep the phone speaker on, so that I could listen to what he (David Dhawan) was saying. I heard David saying, 'Chi-Chi (Govinda's nickname) is questioning a lot.' He was telling my secretary, 'I do not want to work with Govinda anymore. Tell him to do some small bit roles.' This shocked me and I decided never to work with him. After 4-5 months, I again rang him up just to find out if he would give me a guest appearance in his film. He then never rang me back. I am revealing this in public after so many years. I think he is under somebody's influence. I do not think he is that same David Dhawan who I used to know." 

Sources say that Govinda was upset with the director after he started casting Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, and other actors in his films. 

Govinda and David Dhawan have collaborated on over 17 films, and their slapstick humour made the entire 90s full of laughter. Together, they gave popular hits such as Shola Aur Shabnam, Raja Babu, Jodi No. 1, Coolie No. 1, and Haseena Maan Jaayegi, all the films performed exceptionally well at the box office and earned Govinda the title of 'king of comedy'.