Mumbai: Even today, Salman Khan and Govinda’s 2007 film ‘Partner’ remains a treat for movie buffs for its perfect blend of comic timing and romance.
After the film’s massive success, reports suggested that Salman had helped revive Govinda’s career by offering him ‘Partner’. Years later, Govinda has now claimed that Salman underwent a surgery to transform his look for the movie on his advice.
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Govinda recalled his ‘Partner’ days with Salman, sharing that it was he who suggested to David Dhawan and Sohail Khan about casting Salman as the hero in the film.
“We will change his personality, total… Ek new Salman. Jo pehle dekha tha voh alag tha, jo ab dekh rahe hain yeh alag hai. (The one that we saw before, and the one we will be seeing now, is completely different.) So we tried it. We could do it,” Govinda shared.
Speaking about his collaboration with Salman, Govinda described him as a ‘sincere guy.’
“He is such a sincere guy. He asked me what he should do. I told Salman you have to do this and this. Thoda sa chehra utar gaya hai, thoda sa body tayyar kar lijiye, aapke baal thoda sa aisa lag raha hai ki mujhe, thoda kam ho gaye hain toh you have to go and do something (Your face has lost its shine, your body needs to be ready, your hair is thinning out so you should do something). I don’t drink much but I had a drink or so and I said it,” Govinda said.
Claiming that Salman underwent the knife on his advice and started hitting the gym, Govinda concluded, “Look at Salman after Partner, he wasn’t the same as before.”
Of late, Govinda has been making headlines for reported trouble in his married life with Sunita Ahuja. There have been rumours suggesting his extra-marital involvement with a young Marathi actress.
