Perseverance pays off

It was a long wait, but Govind Krishna was never one to give up on his dreams. He acted in small roles in six to seven films so that he could be closer to his dream. He knew he had the talent and the will to work hard, and that it was only a matter of time before his perseverance paid off. Yes, that day has finally arrived. Mikhael directed by Haneef Adani breathed a new lease of life into Govind’s acting career. His role as the senior student who rags Nivin Pauly and engages in fisticuffs with him has garnered eyeballs and praises are pouring in from everywhere.

“I have been struggling for a long time to gain a foothold in the industry and now, this adulation is all what I had dreamt of,” he says with wonder. The call for Mikhael came from a friend. Govind explains, “I teach taekwondo to Anto Joseph’s son and also Zumba to his wife Neeta. She knew how desperately I wanted to be an actor and so suggested that I meet Anto.” So, off he went to meet Anto with a friend’s script. Anto was more impressed with Govind’s show reel and expressed his willingness to help Govind with a role. He kept his word, but that project did not take off.

Govind narrates the rest of the story. “When I met Haneef, he listened to all that I said with a constant smile and after a while I started wondering if he was getting bored with my talk.”

Not many know that Govind is a trained martial art exponent as well as a contemporary dancer, and his role has made full use of his flying fight moves. “When my role was explained, I had no idea that my character would be the central member of the senior gang. I was just told that I would be one amongst the gang of five that heckles Nivin’s character,” he informs. Govind did not expect more since he was already informed that the casting had been done early and that his character was a late entry. It was on the day of the shoot that he understood the length of his role.

 Acting opposite Nivin did not present any problems because the actor did not have any starry airs. Govind recalls, “Nivin made me very comfortable. He was very amicable which made things easy for me.” Even after his first shot, Haneef complimented Govind’s acting skills and even hinted that he wanted to work with him in more projects in future.

The martial art expert is also a part of a Bollywood film Anya, which will see him sharing screen space with Atul Kulkarni and Raima Sen.