I Have Utmost Respect For Rishi And Raj Kapoor: Govinda Thanks Rishi Kapoor For Defending Him

Govinda has thanked veteran actor Rishi Kapoor for speaking on his behalf against director Anurag Basu. The actor was miffed with the director for getting him to South Africa to shoot for a cameo in his latest film, Jagga Jasoos, but later editing him out of the film.

Rishi, whose son Ranbir Kapoor plays the lead in the film and has also produced it, slammed the director earlier this week for not completing the film on time. The actor was speaking to Mid-Day. The delay, according to Rishi, resulted in the film’s poor performance at the box office. He also talked about Govinda, “You even threw Govinda out of the film. If you don’t want Govinda to work in your film, why did you ask him in the first place?”

In an interview to Bombay Times, Govinda thanked Rishi for ‘showing concern’. “Thank you Rishi sir. At last, you showed concern. Good blood never speaks wrong,” he said.

“I didn’t react much because I have huge respect for the Kapoor family. Also, I truly feel that it’s the director’s (Anurag) call to do what he wants to do with his film, but a little professionalism is expected. I had no clue what they were up to. They were busy with their own things and I wasn’t even informed about it (his ouster from the film). This, despite me doing the film without even charging for it. I was unwell and on drips, but I still travelled to South Africa for the shoot as I didn’t want people to feel that I am unprofessional or making excuses,” he added.

Govinda also spoke about his respect for the Kapoor family. “I have utmost respect for the Kapoor family, as I can never forget the love that the legendary Raj Kapoor saab showered upon me when I was just a newcomer. I can never forget the time when he invited me and my mother to one of his parties and touched my mother’s feet when we entered. He treated us with so much love and respect. He was indifferent to my social status. I lived in a Virar chawl and at that time, I was nobody. I don’t look at individuals when I see the Kapoor family. I look at them as one and I look up to Rishi sir and Raj saab. I respect my seniors. These are the qualities that I have imbibed from my mother and I will always stand by them,” he said.

When asked if he will give film cameos another chance, the actor said only if it’s for Salman Khan or the Kapoors. “There might not be a second time as I might only do it for the Kapoors or Salman Khan’s family. Not that I don’t think the others are less important, it’s just that these families are special for me and I hold them in high regard,” he said.

Rishi called Basu irresponsible given the way he makes movies. “Till Wednesday, Anurag Basu was still mixing the film. Can you imagine that? Pritam (composer) probably delivered the music only a week before. What can you say? You don’t take an opinion from anybody. Today’s filmmakers are doing this with everybody. They don’t show their films before release to take opinions, and treat it as though they’re making a nuclear bomb. I didn’t hate or love the film. I only felt it needed to be abridged by 20 minutes. But who is going to give that opinion to them? I totally agree with Ekta (Kapoor) when she threw him out from her film. He had problems with Rakesh Roshan while working on Kites (2010). He’s such an irresponsible director that he doesn’t complete the film. It was supposed to release three times in the past two years, but it kept getting delayed,” he said.

Jagga Jasoos released on 14 July and was in production for almost four years. It has so far made Rs 45 crore. According to a Forbes report, the film recorded one of the worst Friday-to-Friday drops of all time, plummeting 85% on its second Friday. The troubled film’s relatively large Rs 110 crore budget also poses a problem in the studio’s plans for a sequel.