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Of spongers and spouses

V S Srinivasan

Raveena Tandon and Vimal Kumar on the sets of Rajaji. Click for bigger pic!

The film stars Govinda and Raveena Tandon. Raveena is there, all right, large as life and twice as unnatural, but of Govinda there is no sign. To be expected, really. It's common knowledge that if Govinda arrives at the appointed hour, it's time to consider the clock with some concern.

We wait, a little anxious that we may have to leave before the man comes in. Producer-director Vimal Kumar is even more anxious. He's paying a heck of a lot of rent at Mehboob Studios, and his budget's going to look like the national debt if he has too many of these overtime schedules.

He calls up Govinda on the mobile five times. Each time, he's told that Govinda's is on his way. Of course, he isn't worried; he hasn't even begun chewing on the carpet --- yet.

Hey, did we tell you the name of the film? Oops, it's Rajaji. And no, it's nothing to do with the first and last Indian governor-general. If you know who that was.

Raveena looks very fetching in a bright little outfit. She's waiting for Govinda to take her out to dance.

Govinda. Click for bigger pic!

We scrape our eyes off her and latch upon Divya Dutta sitting in a corner. She sees us, tip-toes over to us and says chirpily, "I'm getting married." The right thing to do, of course, when a lady tells you that is not to weep copiously but to congratulate her, take it bravely, as it were. You do the correct thing.

"I do not even know to whom I am getting married," she laughs. Very Indian, we think, and rather sporting. Turns out it's the film she's discussing. Tchah.

"Boy spothatana, Divyaji, aap zara side pe jaiye," says a unit hand. The pert little lady pops out of the way. No airs yet, we note. Meanwhile a fat guy arrives and you are told he is a relative of the producer. He's whom Divya is to marry in the film. So where do Govinda and Raveena fit in?

Vimal Kumar explains the scene: "See, "Govinda, who is basically a nice guy, gets drunk awfully and goes on the rampage, yelling and shouting at Raveena and her father." That doesn't sound very nice, we tell him.

Apparently, the problem was that the chap is that he hoped to marry a rich girl and have it made for life, having failed his exams and having had to fake his mark sheets. He now wants to become rich by proxy. He marries Raveena believed she's sitting on a bundle of notes. As it turns out, she isn't. Which is why he throws a tantrum and walks off in a huff.

Govinda and Vimal Kumar on the sets of Rajaji. Click for bigger pic!

So Govinda's doing a negative role, we ask. Look, if you think that question's stupid, here us out. For he'd earlier vowed never to do one. But then, we guess, he'd also promised to come on time...

"Not really," replies the director to our query on the negative role thing, "it's a role that has grey shades. The hero cannot be a villain, you see," he explains. Again, that isn't a stupid answer, though the grey shades bit thing is what you hear everywhere. That the hero cannot be a villain is a very important thing to remember in Bollywood. Forget it and your film flops. Chastened by the implied advice, we step away to think.

But there's no respite really. For your eyes light again upon Raveena, now gossiping with dance master Chinni Prakash's troupe. The dancers are discussing in Tamil how pretty Raveena is looking. We checked and found no reason to disagree.

Raveena's making her way back to the forefront, but she actually shot to fame with Chinni Prakash's Tu cheez badi hai mast mast in Mohra. One reason she's got this rapport with this unit. Tagging along behind is this film journo. We take a deep breath and head for the lady of the moment and ask her some inane question about the film. If we got the details down, it had more to do with the asexual tape recorder we totted.

Click for bigger pic!

"It's a nice role. I have something to do in this film, not just dance in a couple of numbers. But then, you have to realise that Rajaji is a commercial venture and hence the undercurrent will be commercial, whatever the scene is. In this particular scene, Govinda realises his mistake.

"Divya plays Shakti Kapoor's daughter. I am her best friend. So we generally dress up in a similar manner and move around in the same places, Govinda (playing the leech we mentioned)... marries me and realises that he married the wrong girl, insults me and goes away," she says. Well, confirms what the director told us actually.

Just then Vimal Kumar's mobile rings. He learns that Govinda is in the make-up room. And soon enough, the actor turns up, powdered, plastered and nattily rigged.

The music blares and Govinda begins going through the motions. The director is happy with the first take Chinni Prakash isn't. Lacks the proper zing, he says. Later, he regrets the second shot. For Govinda isn't happy with that. Eight retakes later, Govinda is satisfied.

"He has this tendency to take this khujli (itch) shot -- just for the sake of it," explains Chinni Prakash. "Sometimes, innumerable khujli shots are taken," he laughs. We gather the star does it to ensure he's up to scratch.

Click for bigger pic!

Govinda's just back from a long tour abroad and a short one of Hyderabad. During the time, the queue of producers outside Mehboob Studios waiting for him has got longer. And not all of them are waiting for him to complete his schedules with them.

Three girls have somehow sneaked in, along with a host of hungry autograph hunters. The trio slide up to Govinda and begin chatting with him.

"I called you from there. Why didn't you wave back?" asks one. "Mein chasma nahin pehna tha na; isiliye nahin pehchana," temporises the diplomatic Govinda. To make his point, he hauls out a pair of glasses and wears them.

"Oh, you have got specs now. We just didn't know." You'd never have thought it, would you??

The girls are from Virar, and they've known Govinda since he was this small.... Or at least since they were that small. Govinda excuses himself from us and chats with the girls. A few hugs and kisses later, he comes back to us.

Divya Dutta. Click for bigger pic!

"Hanji, boliye, kaise hain aap?" he says. Polite to a fault, is the man.

Not us though. We bluntly point out that he's actually playing a villain. What could be worse?

"I won't call it a totally villainous role. I'm liked by people. So I'll generally make a very cute villain. The people will be with me from the first frame itself."

One reminds him about his earlier commitment never to do a negative role. Then he was taking a dig at Shah Rukh Khan. We quote him: "I'd rather do such dances than play a villain. A negative role creates a bad impact." The glasses gleam and we can't see quite how he takes that.

"Yeah, but then the role isn't totally negative, as I explained. It is about a man who wants to be rich; he's a very nice person otherwise." We aren't happy, but even Govinda doesn't look too happy, we have exhausted his patience. He looks up, and as if that were a signal, the waiting producers crowd around him.

We watch the sycophantic melee for a moment and then throw up our hands -- metaphorically speaking, of course.