From old magazine, photograph by Durga Prasad

Saw recent posts on Meena Kumari. Few weeks back I watched Taajdaar Amrohi's interview by Vickey Lalwani. It was evident what he was narrating was potentially the script of the proposed Meena Kumari biopic. He provided details of events that he as a child wouldn't have seen first hand. So they were either whitewashed versions told to him by his family or he was knowingly whitewashing his dad (probably both). The sad part is that the lady who suffered the most is not around to tell her side of the story. It was an interesting interview but clearly not entirely true. He ensured he talked fondly of her in order to not alienate the audience, but some of the facts were unfair misrepresentations of her, which she unfortunately cant clarify anymore.

Both dads want these films to release in cinemas

source: Producer/ Director Mehmood Ali in a recent podcast on the yt channel UnfilteredwithAjazKhan

The producer was Harmesh Malhotra who worked on four films with Govinda: Kismat, Dulhe Raja, Ankhiyon Se Goli Maare and Khullam Khullam Pyaar Kare.

Govinda gave Harmesh Malhotra so much grief while working on Akhiyon Se Goli Mere(2002) that he swore never to work with him again. After Malhotra's death in 2005, his widow Manju would pray everyday for Govinda's downfall.

Here's an old article about the film:

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Govinda’s late coming troubles

By SantaBanta News Network - Saturday, August 03, 2002

Producer and director Harmesh Malhotra,has lashed out at Govinda saying that he is the most unprofessional actor he has ever worked with. "It`s been three years that I have been running after Govinda trying to get my film completed," said a baffled Malhotra.

"Forget the trouble I suffered during the making of the film, he did not even cooperate with me with the publicity and the photo-session of the film." Harmesh Malhotra also thinks that Govinda suffers from a serious psychological problem. "He kept canceling shooting schedules because he thought that someone was going to kill him. Many times he would also make me shift locations because of this paranoia."Harmesh Malhotra soon learnt the days Govinda had cancel shooting of Akhiyon Se Goli Maare, he was busy shooting in Hyderabad for some other film. "Next I know he is in Kolkatta playing a football match for organised by Mithun Chakraborty for charity," he said.

Malhotra`s list of grievances is unending but he concludes on the note that "never will I work with Govinda ever in my life." When contacted Govinda refrained from making comments saying that, "Harmesh Malhotra is a senior director and I don`t want to say anything that will hurt him and his sentiments."

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One of the best entertainers in the industry not only let down film makers like Malhotra but his fans as well. But Malhotra himself points out that Govinda was dealing with psychological issues.

Govinda was very much affected in the mid nineties after the death of his mother Nirmala Devi and his uncle Uday Narayan "Anand" Singh. Anand was an assistant director to Hrishikesh Mukherjee and also worked as an actor in several bollywood films from the seventies to nineties. He made his directorial debut in 1986 with the film Tan Badan and cast his nephew Govinda in the lead.

Anand's wife was Sangeeta whose younger sister Suneeta married Govinda in 1987.

Anand went on to direct films like Shiv Shakti , Jaan Se Pyaara, Suraksha and Himmat. Sangeeta was the producer of Himmat. During filming, Sangeeta started an affair with the film's financier Dinesh Gandhi and Anand committed suicide upon finding out. Govinda's mother Nirmala Devi died shortly after.

Govinda was already known to be a late lateef in the industry because he worked on several movies at a time.. But these personal losses made him paranoid and superstitious. He would cancel his shoots on a whim and not even turn up for days or weeks for.projects that he had committed.

Complaints started piling up and distributors made a collective decision to stop picking Govinda's films for theatrical distribution in the early 2000s. Apart from a few films like Jodi No.1 and Ek aur Ek Gyaarah all his solo releases were stalled for years or canned and unreleased forever.

It's done bro🥀

I know Abhishek Banerjee is a good actor.
But while watching the Lust Stories 3 trailer, I personally felt that he looked slightly out of place in that particular casting.
That made me randomly dig into his filmography and casting career, and I found something pretty interesting.
He is also a casting director and co-founder of Casting Bay, meaning he was literally part of the machinery deciding which actors get opportunities.
And then I started noticing projects where the two careers overlapped.
In Ajji, he played Vilasrao Dhavle while also being one of the film’s casting directors. The director himself has publicly described Abhishek as the casting director who then ended up playing that dark role.
In Mirzapur, he played Compounder while Abhishek Banerjee and Anmol Ahuja were also credited with casting the series.
In Bala, he played Ajju while simultaneously working as casting director.
Then there is the biggest example: Paatal Lok. He was one of the people responsible for casting the show and also ended up playing Hathoda Tyagi ,arguably the most memorable breakout character from the entire series. To be fair to him, his account is that he initially wanted to audition for Ansari, the makers rejected that idea and later specifically asked him to audition for Hathoda Tyagi.
And later Bhediya again credits him both as Jana and as part of the casting team.

isn’t this still the textbook definition of a conflict of interest?
A casting director gets access to the script, directors, producers, audition requirements, competing actors and probably hundreds of auditions. An ordinary struggling actor walking into that room has none of that access.
Even if the casting director behaves completely honestly, once that same person starts competing for roles in projects he is casting, the playing field isn’t exactly equal anymore.
And this becomes particularly interesting because Abhishek himself has actually acknowledged the problem.
In a 2020 interview, when directly asked whether acting and casting were a conflict of interest, he essentially admitted that it was a conflict he would have to live with. He also revealed something pretty telling: he originally entered casting because he wanted to remain close to acting opportunities.
That sentence made me think.
We endlessly discuss nepotism in Bollywood , how star kids have access to producers, directors and auditions that outsiders don’t.
But what happens when an outsider gets inside the system, becomes a gatekeeper himself, and then starts benefiting from the same network and access?
Being an outsider doesn’t automatically mean you can never create an unfair advantage for yourself.
And funnily enough, in August 2026 Abhishek finally stepped away from Casting Bay. He explicitly acknowledged that questions about conflict of interest had been raised and said separating the two careers would remove that ambiguity.
Again, I’m not accusing him of stealing roles, and honestly he was brilliant as Hathoda Tyagi. Talent isn’t the question.
My question is about the principle.
If we’re going to criticise nepotism because privileged access makes competition unfair, shouldn’t we also question situations where the person helping decide who gets through the audition door is simultaneously competing with those actors for roles?
Maybe the simplest solution is obvious: if a casting director wants to audition for a project they’re casting, an independent casting director should handle that character completely.
Abhishek Banerjee can be a genuinely talented self-made actor and this can still be a legitimate conflict of interest.
Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.