Govinda Naam Mera and Avatar: The Way Of Water – 2 films with Govinda connection to release on December 16, 2022

By Fenil Seta -

December 12, 2022 - 11:27 AM IST

The last two weeks have been a downer from the box office point of view. An Action Hero failed to put up good numbers despite massive appreciation. This week’s releases like Salaam Venky, Vadh, Maarrich etc also had very poor collections. All eyes are now on the coming Friday – December 16 – which will see the release of Avatar: The Way Of Water. The Hollywood biggie has generated tremendous excitement and is all set to take one of the biggest openings of all time. And on digital, Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions will release Govinda Naam Mera directly on Disney+ Hotstar. It stars Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani and Bhumi Pednekar and this Shashank Khaitan-directorial looks like a fun mystery thriller.

Govinda Naam Mera and Avatar: The Way Of Water – 2 films with Govinda connection to release on December 16, 2022

Incidentally, both these films have a Govinda connection. This is obvious in the case of Govinda Naam Mera. At the trailer launch of the film last month, Karan Johar was even asked whether the popular actor, known for his comic timing and impeccable dance, will be seen in the film. To which, Karan Johar replied, “No. With great regard and respect to Govinda ji; he’s an iconic actor in cinema. All we borrowed was (his) name perhaps. But it would have been beyond the madness that this film already has (to get him on board for the film). However, we do hope that we have his blessings because we are such big fans.”

Meanwhile, Avatar: The Way Of Water also has got associated with Govinda, especially after the latter’s unforgettable appearance on ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ in July 2019. On Rajat Sharma’s popular TV show, Govinda claimed that he was offered to play the lead in the first part, Avatar (2009), by master director James Cameron. Govinda said, “It was me who had given the title of the movie. I told (James Cameron) that your film will run successfully in cinemas. I also added that your film will take at least seven years to complete. That infuriated him (laughs)!”

Govinda then continued, “I told him that the ‘avatar’ you want in the film is handicapped. Woh ishwar ka ansh hai aur apang hai…maine kaha ki yeh nahi hoga. And you want me to shoot for some 410 days and colour my body during the shoot. So I apologized for declining and left. And as predicted by me, the film was released 8 or 9 years later and was a super-hit!”

This confession of Govinda went viral. Also, a picture of him as a Na'vi character of Avatar became a legit meme and continues to be used by thousands of netizens.

Avatar is a story of a paraplegic Marine who is sent to a moon named Pandora to help extract a valuable mineral, Unobtanium. How he falls in love with a girl who’s Na'vi, a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora, forms the crux of the film.

Also Read: After hattrick with Dharma Productions, Shashank Khaitan returns with Govinda Naam Mera and it cannot get better than this!