Govinda on the slapping case

In 2008, a man named Santosh was on the set of Govinda’s film Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, and the actor slapped him after an altercation. Santosh took Govinda to court for assault and demanded monetary compensation. Talking about the case on Mukesh Khanna’s YouTube channel, Govinda said, “The slapping case was so lucky for me. Somebody was misbehaving, and I slapped the person. The case went on for 9 years and in the end, a friend of mine told me to do a sting operation on him and record whatever he was saying. The guy asked me for ₹3-4 crores to take back the case. I recorded that conversation and sent it to court.”

The actor later claimed he slapped Santosh because he misbehaved with some women on the film’s crew. “His name was Santosh. A lot of women told me not to do anything wrong with him further. They asked me to be respectful. I saw that nobody supported me; those who have been standing because of me were after me, trying to pull me down,” he added. The case was settled in 2017 after the Supreme Court asked Govinda to apologise to Santosh. The accuser also withdrew his demand for monetary compensation.

Govinda’s recent work

After a spate of hits in the 90s and a revival in the mid-2000s, Govinda became less prolific with his titles in the 2010s. Apart from supporting roles in Holiday and Kill Dil, the actor was largely seen in delayed films. His last appearances on the big screen were in the 2018 film FryDay and the 2019 film Rangeela Raja.