Govind Namdev reveals that his character in Bandit Queen was ‘inspired by his father’

Most recently seen in writer-director Shravan Tiwari’s crime thriller film Aazam - alongside Jimmy Sheirgill, Abhimanyu Singh, Indraneil Sengupta and Raza Murad - veteran actor Govind Namdev is known for rich oeuvre of films, in which he played some memorable characters. Speaking about the roles that he essayed on screen over the past 30 years or so, the actor recently said that he has “picked them from society”. 

From Saudagar, Bandit Queen, Virasat, Satya, Kachche Dhaage, Mast, Thakshak, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Pukar and Raju Chacha to Sarfarosh, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon and Johnny Gaddaar, Govind has been part of several critically acclaimed films. 

In an interview with Hindustan Times, the noted actor said, “I picked qualities from people and incorporated them in my characters. I practised the nuances and that’s why they look so real and have an impact on the audience.”

Also read: Govind Namdev on his character in Aazam: ‘There are several layers to it’

Govind’s character (Thakur Shri Ram) in Shekhar Kapur’s 1994 biographical action-adventure film Bandit Queen was inspired by his own father. “He was a renowned pahalwan, and would walk from our house to our tailoring shop with a wet towel on his head to save himself from the heat. When I showed this to Shekhar Kapur, he was amazed. He loved it and said there is no need to even put on the moustache and just asked me to wear goggles. My character in Prem Granth was inspired by a person I know,” he said.

Sharing another incident from his early days, Govind revealed that his character in Umesh Shukla’s satirical comedy-drama film OMG – Oh My God! (Siddheshwar Maharaj) was inspired by a person he had come across when I was 10-11 years old. 

Also read: Shekhar Kapur on Manoj Bajpayee’s Bandit Queen character: ‘One night the real Maan Singh slipped into our set’

“We were a group of friends, who would visit the banks of a river in Sagar (a town in Madhya Pradesh) on Sundays. I studied there until Class 7. We used to spend the day plucking guavas, groundnuts and grams, and would enjoy it sitting on the banks of the river. We would burn some grass and roast grams and groundnuts and enjoy ourselves during the picnic. There was a water body and we would sit on its stairs to drink water or just play among ourselves,” the actor elaborated.

Adding to that, he said, “One day, a sadhu scolded us, saying, ‘I use this water to bathe my Shivling. How dare you make this water dirty?’ He asked us never to do that again. But even after that, we would sneak in there sometimes and enjoy ourselves in the water. One day, when I was drinking water from there, a hand held my neck and pulled me back. Aur uske baad jo sutaai ki unhone meri. His eyes were red, and he was burning with rage. I remembered that incident, and later when I got the character in the film, I immediately connected it with that baba.”

Cut to his upcoming work, next Govind will appear in Kishor Pandurang Belekar’s Gandhi Talks, alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Arvind Swami and Siddarth Jadhav.