Govind Namdev remembers crying for three months after his role was axed from Saudagar
An alumnus of the National School of Drama of India
Govind Namdev landed in Mumbai in 1990 in search of work. Soon, he found himself on the sets of director Subhash Ghai’s 1991 film Saudagar, with the help of his friend Anupam Kher, who was a part of the film. In a new interview, he said that he was cast in a pivotal role, which was ultimately edited for length reasons.
Shattered after being told his role was removed
In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, the actor narrated how shattered he was after he was told that his role had been removed almost entirely. The film was headlined by actors Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar. It also starred Amrish Puri, Manisha Koirala, and Jackie Shroff.
- Govind Namdev shot for 5-6 days for Saudagar.
- The film was initially over 4 hours long.
- In order to reduce the runtime, his character was completely removed from the film during editing.
Not being informed about the decision
The actor was not informed about the decision to remove his character and frequently visited Subhash Ghai’s office for updates. He was under the impression that he would be doing the dubbing for his role.
- Govind Namdev continued to visit the office asking about the dubbing.
- He was repeatedly told that the dubbing would be done.
- He later found out that his character was cut because of the film’s length.
Recovering from the shock
It took Govind Namdev three months to recover from the shock of having his character removed from his debut film.
- He was devastated by the news and cried for months.
- He struggled with the loss of respect and worried about what people would say about him.
- His wife tried to console him, but he couldn’t stop crying.
Bouncing back as a villain
Despite the setback, Govind Namdev bounced back and established himself as a villain in Hindi films.
- He went on to star in numerous films, including Shola Aur Shabnam, Chamatkar, Aankhen, Satya, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Wanted, and Pukar.
- He was most recently seen in Oh My God 2.
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