Katrina's Eager About Vicky's Govinda

Govinda Naam Mera, says Vicky Kaushal, is a tribute to 1990s' pulpy Bollywood masala films.

Written and directed by Shashank Khaitan, the comedy crime thriller tells the tale of an underdog and his family's madness.

Vicky says he was introduced to international films late in life and it was Bollywood entertainers like the Khiladi franchise and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that encouraged him to pursue a career in cinema.

"I have grown up watching the films of Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Govinda," Vicky says.

"I started going to theatres also a bit late. I would often watch films on TV, like the Khiladi movies. I have been a fan of these films. So the first seed of becoming an actor was sown by these films.

"Govinda Naam Mera is a fragment of the same fabric. It is an ode to those pulpy films in which there was murder, comedy, suspense, thrill, love, etc. I am grateful to Shashank, who came up with the film, for keeping it contemporary and also giving an ode to that pulpy Bollywood masala."

"This is the film I was shooting after Sardar Udham, so I was very happy. I felt every day was like a party. I would come, shoot, have fun. There was no serious scene, no crying," he adds.

The film features Kiara Advani as Kaushal's girlfriend Suku, and Bhumi Pednekar as his wife Gauri.

Vicky, who worked with Kiara on Lust Stories and with Bhumi on Bhoot -- Part One: The Haunted Ship, says he had a great time reuniting with them.

Wife Katrina Kaif, Vicky says, "is looking forward to this film because she knows how hard the process was for me. I would share with her what all we would shoot."

Govinda Naam Mera begins streaming on Disney+ Hotstar on December 16.