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The Past Blast: When Akshay Kumar was to play Govinda’s character in Life Partner....
Govinda came in place of Akshay Kumar in the Rumi Jaffery directed comedy, Life Partner. What went wrong? Find out.
The new millennium, 2000 to 2009 saw a string of comedies revolving around three friends, and the issues around their marriage. Right from No Entry, Shaadi No. 1 to Life Partner and Thank You, this was in the trend topic. In 2009, Abbas Mustan decided to bank roll the Rumi Jaffery directed, Life Partner, which chronicled the tale of three friends. The film featured Govinda as a divorce lawyer, with Fardeen Khan and Tusshar as his friends, who get married to Genelia D’Souza and Prachi Desai.
It was a comedy of errors about how the lives of these friends change post marriage and how the divorce lawyer comes to their rescue with his ‘hatke’ advices. While Govinda played the role to perfection, very few know that the makers at first were keen to have Akshay Kumar on board the film. Back in the 2000s, Akshay had emerged the king of comedies with films like Hera Pheri franchise, Welcome, Garam Masala, Bhagam Bhaag and many more under his kitty.
The makers felt, Akshay would fit the bill to the T and approached him with the script. It was a 20-day work for the Khiladi and he even liked the way script was written, particularly the approach to his character. He was all excited to come on board the comedy, and even allotted dates for the overseas schedule of the film. However, things hit a roadblock in financial front. A source informs us that back in 2008, Akshay had demanded Rs 12 crore for his 20-day work in the film, and producer duo, Abbas Mustan felt, it would result in the financial structure of the film going haywire. 
They tried to get Akshay down to Rs 8 crore, however, the actor was the man in demand for comedies and didn’t budge on his acting fees. Things didn’t materialize and the start a fresh hunt for the role. Interestingly, the title Life Partner was also suggested to Rumi and Abbas Mustan by Akshay Kumar. The role was offered to even Bobby Deol, and Saif Ali Khan, but it was a no from the two of them. Eventually, it was Rumi’s idea to get the 90s comedy king, Govinda on board the film. They worked on his entire appearance, gave it a fresh outlook and started shooting for the film. Interestingly, Bipasha Basu was the first choice for the cameo of Amrita Rao in Life Partner.
Interestingly, 2 years later, Akshay played a similar role in a similar film, Thank You, with Anees Bazmee as the director. Stay tuned for more such unheard trivia’s, only on Pinkvilla.
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