Govinda’s wife Sunita Ahuja shared the reason why the actor rejected Chunnilal’s role in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Devdas.
It’s a known fact that Jackie Shroff was not the first choice for Chunnilal’s role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 magnus opus Devdas starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit. The makers had initially approached Govinda for the part. However, the actor rejected the role and it eventually landed in Jackie’s lap.
Recently in an interview with Hindi Rush, Govinda‘s wife Sunita Ahuja defended her husband’s decision of refusing this role in Devdas. Sharing her take on it, she said that it didn’t align with her actor-husband’s stature at that time to take up a secondary role. She also added that she might not have been as calm as him if she were to face a similar situation.
“Why would he play Chunnilal? He was a very big star. Why would he play a second lead? It’s his choice. You can’t offer Chunnilal’s role to Govinda. He didn’t do it, it’s his choice. I am glad he didn’t do it. Why would be accept such a role being a top star? He was a top star during the ‘80s, ’90s, and 2000s. Why would you offer a role like that to him. He handled it very well; I wouldn’t have been as kind,” Sunita opined in her interview.
Years back in an interview with India TV, Govinda too had opened up on this subject and said that he had rejected Devdas because he did not wanted to play a side character at that time.
“I asked Sanjay aapko mere mein Chunni Lal kaha dikhta hai? I was a superstar at that time. Mujhe laga theek hai, aap top ke director ho, achchhi baat hai, par aap mujhe character role kyu de rahe hai. Maine kaha ek kaam karna, Shah Rukh se kaho ki woh mujhe kahe. I can do the film for friendship but I won’t do it otherwise.I won’t do the film because you are a star or a top director. I love Shah Rukh a lot. We haven’t done a film together but he is a very nice person,” the Hero No 1 actor had said.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas is an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s popular Bengali novel of the same name. The film is a tragic love triangle between Devdas, a wealthy law graduate, his childhood sweetheart Paro and courtesan named Chandramukhi.
