Hard work and courage can bend even the toughest mountains, and Govinda’s life is proof of that saying. One of Hindi cinema’s most charismatic performers, Govinda’s journey did not begin with glamour or privilege. He was born into poverty at a time when his family had fallen on hard days, forced to move from a haveli into a modest Mumbai chawl. Few would have imagined then that the boy lovingly called Chichi would go on to rule Bollywood through the 1990s.
A fallen legacy and a difficult childhood
Govinda was born to Arun Ahuja, a popular actor of the 1940s who appeared in films like Aurat and Ek Hi Raasta. Arun later turned producer, but his films failed commercially, pushing the family into financial distress. It…