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Govinda, as Sundar (alternatively spelled Sunder), plays a naive man from the rural hinterlands on his travels to the big city. Sundar is uneducated and is duped several times, even by his friends, through his innocence. Sundar meets Payal, portrayed by Rani, and through misunderstanding Sundar is mistaken for being mute. Sundar is uncertain if Payal loves him or pities him, but does not want to lose this love by revealing he can speak. Sundar eventually feels his lies make him unworthy of Payal's love, so he decides to take a drastic step.

Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai is a complete Bollywood film. It provides comedy, romance, musicals, drama, melodrama and to a degree, bittersweet horror. Govinda plays the full gamut of emotions brilliantly and it is hard not to empathize with his character's increasing anguish. An exemplary moment is while Sundar is waiting in a room before he has an operation. You can feel his pain as he shouts words of love he has never spoken before to Payal! The ending is abrupt and made me cringe as the reality of his actions hit me, but upon reflection, it suited Sundar's disposition, his guilt for betraying Payal, and his passion to redeem himself to the woman he loves. Well-written, well-played and bittersweet indeed.

Mera Lahoo is an outstanding early film starring Govinda. Kimi Katkar plays twin sisters, Gita and Dita. Govinda and Dita fall in love. Dita gets married but a corrupt man, portrayed by Gulshan Grover, obsesses over her and uses his influence to slander Govinda with accusations of Govinda and Dita being adulterous. Govinda is banished from his homeland for the alleged infidelity and joins forces with a rebel group. A manhunt is on for Govinda who is captured and placed in jail. Meanwhile, the evil man kills Dita's husband, carries Dita to his home and rapes her. Who will avenge this crime? Will Govinda ever be set free? This film still plays well despite low-budget production values. The first musical number, "I Love You, Govinda," is almost embarrassingly 1980's with its colored lights, disco-like moves, polyester & gold clothes and silly lyrics. It is the only scene difficult to watch, everything else is gold. Later, there is a poor makeup dressing, mustache and beard which look too much like charcoal rubbed on the face, which is slightly distracting.

Govinda plays the full range of emotions and is exceptional in all. He has the obligatory motorcycle scenes, one-man-against-many fights (I truly feel sorry for the actors because it is evident Govinda and the stunt men made contact on many of their hits), dances beautifully in the later numbers (thanks to better choreography!), and several dramatic confrontations with authority.

It is not known officially if Govinda was a playback singer, although it sounds like him on the track "O Jaaneman Mujhe Rab Ki Kasam." Govinda does sing on camera in four brief scenes: 10:00, 15:00, 23:00 and at 50:00 minutes into the film. Govinda infuses his romantic lead with humor, charm and passion which is believable throughout. It is surprising how good his dramatic scenes are especially when he rejects God for his lot in life.

This film is difficult to find on DVD and the quality of the post-production is quite poor, with lighting change-ups evident, scenes edited upside down and scratched frames. The copy I saw also had a filter which was moved before the camera lens in an obvious and prolonged manner. Most copies do not have English subtitles, but the characters' actions and expressions are such that you can easily understand every situation. A film well worth seeing, Govinda fan or not !!!