Salman loves Katrina a lot: Govinda

How much did the change of attitude of the industry people affect you during your bad patch?
Sometimes time favours you and sometimes not. I have no grudge against people who have spoken against me. I am positive in nature and that gives me energy to work. David and Salman have helped me a lot. God is giving me the strength to prove myself. And the good deeds that I have done in the past are helping me now.

Salman has helped you make a comeback in Bollywood

I am very thankful to Salman. We are not just friends but our two families have come together. I feel proud of him.

Comparing your and Salman's current box office status, did you feel being sidelined during the making of Partner?

I have delivered 15 hits with David and this is my 16th film with him. He has balanced our roles very well. Salman has been a great support for me throughout the making. Even if people try to point out differences between Salman and me they won't be able to. I trust my director and Salman completely. He is definitely more handsome (Laughs), but I can't think of being sidetracked. I don't think there is any competition between us. My role is very good in the film and I didn't even feel the need to give my inputs which I used to generally do whenever I worked with David.

Why has your political career been full of road blocks?

I am enjoying my political career. I had no experience and had to learn a lot in the process. Solving half the problems of this city was not very easy. There were railway problems and water logging issues and solving it all alone is not possible. Politics is one field where often money is procured for these kinds of purposes. However happy you are in your career, it will always show your negativity and try to prove you wrong. I have to prove myself.

How much has politics affected your film career?

Sometimes one does tend to get fatigued balancing both these very demanding careers. But politics has been a good experience and my elders have trusted me especially Sonia Gandhiji, who gave me a lot of respect and entrusted me with a lot of duties. It is my responsibility to fulfill these promises and I will do it before I complete five years in my constituency. I keep myself fit so that I can complete my duties without any hitches.

You have been accused of not keeping your political promises.

I never made any false promises. I made only four promises. I said I would do something about the railways, water logging problems, hospitals and schools. I have managed to solve the railways and water logging problems and the remaining two promises are on their way to getting fulfilled. I am planning to build better hospitals and schools in my constituency and its foundation work has begun.

In spite of all the promises there were water logging problems this year too. Many spoke against you. What have you done to combat them?

Many people raised their voices against me. They thought that I am a simple villager and would look into these problems immediately. I have been brought up in this city for the last 25 years. I faced them when I was not into politics. Why are people raising this issue now that I am in the constituency and making an issue of it. Why are they projecting it as a new issue? When nature goes against you no one can be held responsible for it. Yet we are working on it. This year I visited many areas to see how much my constituency was suffering and which areas were in trouble. I visited Ganesh Nagar, Janta Nagar, Aksar Nagar and few areas of Dahisar. Many areas had overflowing gutters. We appointed BMC men to come out and help them. We had warned people to keep their belongings safe and not let children out in the rains. We are now planning to combat this problem with machines that can suck out the water. We have already donated many floating devices in most of the areas and now we are planning to set up chowkies and boats to help people in trouble. I am also going to bring up this matter in the Sansad this year.

Are you going to contest again for a new term?

I am not sure. As an actor I had no knowledge of politics. But I realized that politics can't be learnt in a jiffy. It is a deep study and needs lot of time. My work is to fulfill my promises and complete my duties before I complete my five-year term. I am trying to do my best. 20 new trains have been introduced and that has reduced the rush. I asked my friends to click pictures so that we can gauge how much rush has been reduced during the peak hours. I can imagine when 157 trains will be introduced. It has been a good experience.

After Partner what kind of roles are you looking at? Do you plan to stick to comedy which is your genre? Any plans of Partner II?

I am ready for any kind of roles. Filmmakers are coming out with new and offbeat subjects. I would love to do these kind of roles too. About Partner II talks are going on but nothing has been finalized yet.

You have been paired opposite Salman's real life girlfriend Katrina in the film. How was it working with her?

She is a very simple and nice girl. She is a part of the two families now. Salman loves her a lot. Her simplicity in real life reflects on her screen appearance. She should maintain it. She's learning slowly and trying to understand Bollywood. She is very hard working too.

Your daughter Narmada has stepped into Bollywood as an assistant to Rakesh Roshan. What have you advised her?

She was always free to choose her own career. She wanted to start off as an assistant and I gave her my green signal. She is a very mature for someone of her age. She has gone through a lot of pains in life. The last time she met with an accident she was hurt on the face. She used to often ask me – 'Papa will I ever become beautiful again?' I had then told her that beauty is not superficial. Beauty will reflect on your face if you are beautiful from inside. So enjoy what you do in life and if you work sincerely then it will reflect on your face and she heeded my advice.

Why were there rumours about her and Salman being together through the IIFA at Yorkshire?

She was in safe hands and was with her Salman uncle. She has learnt so much when she was not well. She is mature enough and such rumours do not affect her.

What comes next after Partner?

There is K. Sera Sera and Suneil Shetty's co-production Chal Chala Chal, directed by Rajiv Kumar. It's a social comedy. Then I am doing David Dhawan's next. I am also doing films with Priyadarshan, Ravi Chopra and Nikhil Advani.