Tina Ahuja, Govinda’s daughter, has opened up about her childhood and said that Govinda was ‘never around’ when she was growing up, as he was always busy with work. Govinda was one of the most loved Hindi film stars in the 1990s when Tina was growing up. She said her mother was the main caretaker at home, and added that she got a chance to mingle with her when she started taking over her father’s work. Tina tried her luck at acting, but her career didn’t take off. After a while, she moved into a behind-the-scenes role alongside her father.
While talking to Bollywood Bubble, she said, “People don’t know this, but my father rarely came to my school. My dad was never around during my school days. It was always my mother who would bring our lunch, go out to eat… he was rarely at home. It was a way of knowing my dad well. During school days he was rarely at home, he was either in Hyderabad or Switzerland. So, I really started liking working with dad. People started giving me more attention and importance.” When asked what she enjoys doing with her dad, Tina said, “I had a company, we were doing a lot of shows and events with him… just being busy with him, head to toe.”
In an old interview, Tina’s mother Sunita Ahuja revealed that Govinda was not around when she was born. “When our daughter was born, he had five shifts scheduled on the same day. My mother-in-law was with me, and after every shift, they would check and ask if the baby was born. When they were on their third shift of the day, Tina was born. I didn’t know how big a star he was,” she said on the Time Out With Ankit podcast, also revealing that they kept their marriage a secret for the first year.
“It was the trend in those days, who cared? But when Tina was born, of course, everyone knew,” Sunita added. Govinda and Sunita got married in 1987; they have two children, daughter Tina and son Yashvardhan.