'It is difficult to survive in politics'

Turning wise

Govinda, who in 2004 was elected as the Member of Parliament from North Mumbai, admits politics did not suit him. “I found myself dealing with Ram Naik instead of Karisma Kapoor. It was really difficult time for me. I became 108 kgs during that period. When I decided to say goodbye to politics, it was hard to shed the extra flab,” said Govinda.

“Sometime something does not suit and the same happened to me. I won’t call it a dirty game but I must say it’s very difficult to survive in politics when you don’t have any political background. It was literally the saddest period of my life. I am happy that I came out of it without getting a bad name,” said the actor.

Govinda, who gave hits like Raja Babu, ‘Coolie No 1’, ‘Hero No 1’ and ‘Partner’, said that he used to feel nostalgic about films while he was busy with politics and finally decided to return to where he belonged.

In his new film ‘Loot’, the actor is sharing screen space with newcomers like Mimoh Chakraborty and Shweta Bhardwaj. “I had to lose almost 30 kgs for the film. Our director Rajneesh Thakur used to wake up the entire crew at 5 in the morning and take us for a jog. It was necessary for me to lose weight because the new league of actors are very health conscious,” he said.

Though Govinda has made sure that he is visible on the silver screen, his last few films like Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, 'Life Partner' and ‘Naughty @ 40’ did not do well at the box-office. “I tried my level best to come up with good films but they didn’t do well at the box-office. I chose some big banners but the films eventually didn't release on time or didn’t get promoted properly. But I am not deterred by it, I will keep working. It’s just a bad phase in my life,” said Govinda.