Believe it or not, apna Govinda is doing an English-language fi lm. The fi lm is Jagmohan Mundhra’s remake of the 2005 Hollywood comedy, The 40-Year-old Virgin. “It’s my fi rst international project and hence very special to me,” says Govinda. What makes it doubly special is the fact that Govinda will have to speak the Queen’s English in the film. Not just the Queen’s English, Govinda is also required to sport a British accent in thefilm, Mundhra has apparently decided to hire an in-house language instructor, on the sets, to make sure that Govinda’s diction doesn’t dither.

However, the actor is least worried about the linguistic crossover. “British NRIs don’t always speak perfect angrezi,” he reasons. “A lot of them retain their desi accent and speak a mix of English and Hindi. The key is to be true to the character to be essayed. Speaking English is no great shakes, I can manage it,” Govinda proclaims. Besides speaking English, Govinda is now on a weightloss spree too. And the results are already showing. Ask him whether he is trying to equal his pal Salman Khan’s physique, and he replies, “That’s not possible. He is one among the 10 most handsome men in the world. I am losing weight only because I want to start looking like my Raja Babu and Hero No 1 days.”

Talking about his weight loss routine, he says that it all began when he was shooting in Bangkok. What also supported his weight loss apart from his workouts is that he was down with viral fever. “In spite of all this, I’ve been working round-the-clock to complete all my assignments before I leave for London,” he says.

Chi Chi sees red — literally

And on the topic of our Govinda - he recently shot for a segment of IIFA gags where he was supposed to introduce a segment on the award show. However, the task turned out to be quite a tiring chore for the crew. To begin with, Govinda asked for several retakes and then he stumped the camera men with the request to cut out two men wearing red shirts in the background. There were no such guys in the frame!

A source from the production crew reveals, “Govinda was in good spirits and in a bit of a rush because he wanted to wrap the gag and then go for his fi lm shoot. After doing the shot, he requested the cameraman to show him the footage. He was not happy with the results and asked for a retake. After a few more retakes, Chi Chi checked the monitor again and then made an odd request. He asked the camera guy to edit out two men wearing red tee shirts in the background. When told there was no one else in the frame, the actor started screaming, and told the cameraman to get his eyes checked!”

The argument continued for a few minutes. The source adds, “Finally the camera guy had to pretend that he did see the guys in the red shirt. He then thanked Govinda and fl ed from the scene. Later on, word spread