Pahlaj Nihalani rubbishes Govinda’s claim of being offered James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’

Bollywood actor Govinda had earlier claimed that he was offered a role in the James Cameron-directorial ‘Avatar’ which had become the highest grossing film across the globe at the time of its release. Govinda had even remarked that the title ‘Avatar’ was his suggestion to Hollywood director James Cameron. The former Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chairman Pahlaj Nihalani has however refuted Govinda’s claim. “I had made a film called Avatar with him. I had filmed 40 minutes of it, which I consider one of my best films, but it got canned. Due to the same title I don't know what went wrong in his mind and he kept claiming that he was doing Hollywood's Avatar. The disc of his brain spinned over and he went from Hindi to English,” Pankaj said in an interaction with Friday Talkies. 

Also Read: Is Fawad Khan still in touch with ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ co-star Ranbir Kapoor?

Govinda had claimed that he accurately predicted that Avatar would need 7 years to get filmed. He claimed that he backed out of the project as he feared the prospect of getting his body painted. Pahlaj Nihalani’s narrative however paints a starkly different picture. “He said he was offered Avatar and forgot that it was actually Pahlaj Nihalani’s Avatar. So that was the big tragedy that happened. He said, "let’s put this on hold", do something else. We tried to make the film in one schedule but at the last minute I don’t know what almonds he ate with tea that he started fainting and us din ke baad se uska dimaag theek nahi raha (his brain is not alright ever since that day). He started talking nonsense and the schedule kept getting pushed. Some songs were remaining and some portions of the climax, but he didn’t shoot at all. Shot would be ready, he would wake up, but then he is fainting. Pata nahi badaam mein kya tha, suspense hai aaj tak (I don't know what was there in the almonds, it is still a suspense),” Nihalani added.