Salman Khan Was NOT Keen On Working With Govinda In Partner, Says David Dhawan: 'Yaar, Isse Ladna...'

Director David Dhawan and actor Govinda had a golden partnership in the 1990s, churning out nearly 17 hit films together. In a recent chat, David fondly reminisced about those times, claiming he was the only one who could “handle” Govinda. When asked about Govinda’s notorious tardiness, David simply shrugged it off, saying the work always got done. He also spilled the beans on how Salman Khan wasn’t initially “keen” on doing Partner and how Anil Kapoor felt a bit insecure about David and Govinda’s tight bond.

In a chat with Bollywood Bubble, David Dhawan called Govinda the “king of improvisation,” which made their work together successful. David also shared that they had a special code for when a scene wasn’t working. “I would say ‘rubber hai scene, prolonged, khincha hua hai’. Govinda would say ‘David, main pura scene ek shot mein deta hun’,” he said.

David also talked about working with Salman and Govinda in Partner, recalling when he discussed the idea with producer Sohail Khan, who promptly agreed. He shared, “I said ‘can we take Govinda and Salman bhai?’ He said damn good. Went to Salman bhai, he was not very keen. I told him, ‘come yaar, let’s do it, it will be a big thing’.” He recalled an incident from the film’s shoot and said, “Salman told me one day, when we were shooting in Bangkok, he said ‘David yaar, isse ladna… fayda nahi hai.”

Interestingly, Govinda had once revealed that Salman Khan called him and asked him to leave David Dhawan’s Judwaa and give it to him instead. Govinda obliged and Salman went on to do a double role in what became one of the milestone films in his early career.

Govinda had earlier told Bollywood Hungama, “Uss time pe main Judwaa kar raha tha aur kisi din Salman (Khan) ne mujhe phone lagaya, 2-3 baje, aur kaha ki ‘Chichi Bhahiya aap kitni hit doge yaar?’ Maine bola kya hua? Woh bola ‘Woh jo picture aap kar rahe ho, Judwaa, woh aap band kar dijiye aur woh mujhe de dijiye. Director bhi aapko mujhe dena padega. Producer (Sajid Nadiadwala) bhi maine aap hi ka le liya hai’. Toh woh chalti film, wahan pe thehra di gayi hai, rok di gayi hai aur bandh kardi gayi. Aur woh Salman ko de di gayi thi.”

However, this did not lead to any fights between the actors.