It’s been more than 125 films and still counting: Govind Namdev

There are 3-4 characters which have been very challenging and are also close to my heart. Out of which is the character of Chhote Thakur which I played in Virasat who is paralytic and is very villainous. It was quite challenging for me to get into that kind of space and mindset of a paralytic person. Luckily, I had one doctor with whom I used to talk to get reference for my role about what these people go through or what is their state of mind. I learnt their body language and behavioral pattern and then I performed. As I had to observe real life characters so I observed 1 character and talked to a doctor to know the psychology. The portrayal finally looked very realistic and I got a lot of appreciation for the same. People still recognize me from my role in this film. There other roles too such as in ‘Oh My God’, Sarfarosh, ‘Kachche Dhage’, ‘Bandit Queen’. For these characters, I worked hard to get into skin of the character. All of them are different from each other and people recognize me from my characters and not as Govind Namdev, which is a real compliment.

It’s been more than 125 films and still counting. I’m very much satisfied with my journey how things fell into place in right time and I got to work with some amazing producers, directors and actors. I got to play many remarkable characters in some of the amazing films which has created a mark on my audiences. I could now say to my upcoming generations that yes! I have made a remarkable contribution in the field of acting. So in short I’m very much satisfied. And it’s not that this journey has ended, it is still going on and it will continue. There are a lot of things to come up and my audiences will get to see. There are more characters coming up where I can showcase my versatility and exercise my ability to 100 percent as an actor. I’m hoping to keep on creating impact through my roles in future too.

There’s a vast difference now. Earlier there were limited mediums and only Doordarshan channel. Also the film making was a formula thing. The plot usually had s a hero, heroine and a villain.  Some emotional and fighting scenes and songs. But now the content creating has changed and become dynamic. Also now people have a lot of opportunities and mediums too, such as short films,  independent films, multi starrer,  web series , Television etc. There’s plethora of work for talented people in this industry.  Earlier it used to be a lot of struggle for getting films as 10 people used to audition for same role and with lot of efforts and struggle one used to get work. Now time has changed as everyone is focusing on making realistic content which connect more with people and real life. Now skills are very important a. I think its a positive change.

Luckily it was not that difficult for me because theatre had taught me a lot and given me that confidence. So I was sure that once I get just one work, people will start recognizing me and I would get more projects. I got my first break within 3 months after coming to Mumbai. After ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’ people started appreciating my work and I started getting offers. Then I got ‘Bandit Queen’ and ‘Prem Granth’. There was a time after Shola and Shubhnam when I was only being offered police officer roles but I didn’t want to get typecast. So I decided I won’t play police roles unless and until its something big. I started saying no to the role of police officer. This had an impact on my image and people thought I’m arrogant and egoistic. As a result for 2 years there was no work for me and I wasn’t getting any other roles to play. Finally I got a call from director Bharat Rangachary for a show in Sony TV for a lead role of a business man. I was at first skeptical about working for television but then I discussed it with my wife about the same and finally decided to do it. It was my first TV show named Parivartan and it really did very well. People realized that I can do other characters too and I was finally successful in breaking the stereotype and started getting different roles.

It was a conscious choice always. When I came to Mumbai from Delhi after completing graduation from NSD, I observed that in the film industry during that time, there were only 3 lead roles in a film - hero, heroine and villain. I couldn’t be hero because of my age so from the beginning I decided to go for villainous roles. Since I had already received a lot of appreciation as an actor in Delhi so I didn’t want to play a small role. So, I focused on negative roles so that people notice me. Now the scenario has changed completely and that myth of hero heroine and villain has faded. In today’s time content is the hero. So there are versatile and more layered roles coming my way.

What I believe is whatever profession you may have, as a human you have your responsibility towards your society in contributing towards the betterment of our society. I feel it is duty of everyone. Though I’m actor but also I’m responsible about things in my surrounding and take charge of it. Also the work I do is with the motive that this is contributing towards the society in a better way. If I’m doing a negative role then people should be able to distinguish between right and wrong in the society and that’s been my only motto. People should learn what is right and wrong . It should touch people’s heart. So through our art we educate people. And physically too if you see in this pandemic many industry people have extended help. Sonu Sood has become a real life hero. So we have also helped and worked for the good of the society

In real life I’m a very spiritual person and a loving husband , father and grandfather.  I’m a very emotional person which is contrast to reel life where I’m often a dabangg  villian who kills , fights and harasses. But the more negative characters I played, purer I became in my personal life as I released my negativity through those characters.