Govinda has now shared the reasons behind his lack of punctuality. He considers himself a disciple of the legendary actor Dilip Kumar and explains that he wouldn’t arrive on set until he felt his “tuning” was right, similar to how classical musicians prepare before a performance.
Talking to Mukesh Khanna for his YouTube channel Bheeshm International, Govinda said, “I was a disciple of Dilip Kumar. I didn’t believe in ‘late.’ I tuned myself well. Have you ever attended a classical music concert? They tune themselves well before performing. Till I didn’t tune myself well, I didn’t reach the set. I’ve never betrayed that till date.”
He further added, “I would go from one film set to another. The industry got hold of an uneducated guy like me. They would’ve killed me had I not met Dilip Kumar. He made me leave 25 films. I told him, ‘Sir, if I leave so many films, I’d have to return my fees.’ He said, ‘I’ll get you money from somewhere else. You leave these films. You’ll listen to me, right?’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll leave these 25 films.”
A financier once told Govinda not to follow Dilip Kumar’s advice, but Govinda trusted him because he cared about his health after working non-stop for 16 days. Govinda justified being late on set by saying he had many films to finish on time.