Johnny Lever does not need inspiration

Johnny has signed the Bhojpuri film, Bhola, which is directed by Anirudh Tiwari .This will be his first Bhojpuri movie and he will be playing the lead actress' father. The comedian, who takes lessons from no one, says, "I will be original. Why should I take inspiration from Govinda or Amitabh Bachchan? They must have done some good roles but I am not inspired by them. I will only talk to my writer about my role."

His refusal to ape Bachchan and Govinda is because he wants to be totally fresh. According to Johnny, it is in no way to show disrespect to these stars with regards to their abilities or familiarity with the language. "They are very good stars and both are perfect as far as their work goes. Amitji is very senior. Govinda came to the industry after him but both are very popular among Bhojpuri audiences."

Johnny is confident he will give a knock out performance in Bhola. The unfamiliar language does not deter his work as he is comfortable with Bhojpuri now. The actor, who has done many roles in many languages, says, "I will die if I am not able to speak Bhojpuri properly! It's easy and I am very fond of different languages."

As for Amitabh Bachchan, he is extremely famous in North Indian territory for his films like Ganga which was produced by his makeup man, Deepak Sawant. The Bhojpuri inspired song, "Khaike Paan Banaras Wala," from Don is still as popular today as it was in 1978 when Chandra Barot directed it.

Govinda played a historical role in the film Aankhen in 1993 directed by David Dhawan. He played the character of Gaurishankar, a village boy who speaks Bhojpuri. In the movie, the song "Angna Mein Baba" which had a Bhojpuri touch was highly appreciated be audiences.