Running Saturn - Mercury from middle 2001.DETAILED ANALYSIS The sub-period of Mercury indicates that he is going to give an extraordinary performance which involves setback followed by come back as it is the basic characteristic of Exchange. The only drawback is that this mercury is in 12thhouse from Saturn in the natal chart which may give some setback to the native,loss,expenditure etc. But that also would be followed by a comeback.This mercury is also in Sagittarius Sign in 9th house which is not good.HE may not get desired success in this period.

Today, urban teenyboppers who swing to Ricky Martin's ale` ale` ale`, also swear by Govinda's aala re aala. Funmeister Govinda's latest films, Jodi No 1 and Albela, have once again suffered their share of dissing by the critics but reviewers have mostly exulted over their kaleidoscopically-clothed star's deeply dippy comic abilities.

Longtime heroine Karisma Kapoor too adds her voice to this chorus: "Govinda is a very dear co-star and an amazing actor. I find it fascinating the way he's able to portray different emotions as easily as he breathes."

Back in the mid-80s, Govinda was a grade B newcomer who had little to distinguish him. The son of 40s film actor Arun Ahuja and singer Nirmala Devi, Govinda had been brought up in a financially-strained household in the distant Mumbai suburb of Virar. His mother, a spiritual-minded bhajan singer, was the formative influence of his life. When a young Govinda, eager to ease the monthly expenses, offered to stop drinking milk, his mother rebuked him saying she would rather pay the milkman than the doctor. Besides, his desire to become a hero was well known and he had to stay healthy. Buoyed by his quicksilver dancing abilities, Govinda started struggling to get a toehold in films. He landed Pahlaj Nihalani's Ilzaam ('86); and the film's success transformed his life.

But he soon got married to fiancée, Sunita, and in his mad scramble for financial security, Govinda grabbed scores of films and worked at a punishing pace. As he himself admits, he gave such little time to his filmmakers that they had no time to look after the technical aspects of his films. The quality of his movies suffered.

Fortunately for him, in the 90s, he found his forte with a string of David Dhawan comedies, Aankhen, Saajan Chale Sasural, which hit the box office bull's eye. Along with Karisma Kapoor ("a heroine of international standards," according to Govinda), a team was formed. Strange outfits (his wardrobe was jokingly labelled 'Clothes encounters of the third kind') and songs like Sarkailo khatiya (Raja Babu) and Teri naani mari toh main kya karoon (Coolie No 1) exemplified the team's anything-goes credo towards getting laughs.

Govinda's obvious comic genius shone brighter as the films acquired more polish and the Master of Morph gave a terrifically nuanced performance as a neurotic man who is capable of taking only baby steps in the caper comedy Deewana Mastana ('97).

The label 'The Entertainer' has stuck to Govinda and he revels in it. Rinke Khanna who starred opposite him in Jackie Shroff's Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai, says she was hard put to keep up with his amazing ability to improvise during a shot. "It's wonderful what he can do to a scene," says Rinke. Namrata agrees, "He added so many touches to several scenes in Albela."

While this confidence in his histrionic capabilities has stood Govinda in good stead, his insistence on being, not just the best part of the show but often the whole show itself has cost Govinda some A-list banners and heroines. He turned down the Anil Kapoor role in Subhash Ghai's Taal dismissing it as a supporting role and other major banners have not been forthcoming. The reason trotted out for this anomaly is Govinda's fabled late-coming.

But now Govinda realises that this has been his worst short-coming and swears that he has since turned over a new leaf. As proof he proudly proffers the fact that shooting for his Mahesh Manjrekar-directed Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai was wrapped within a single month — an unheard of miracle for a Govinda starrer.

At one stage it was important for Govinda to prove that he could also be successful with another director besides David. Harmesh Malhotra directed Govinda's successful Dulhe Raja and now, point proved, Govinda is back to working full-steam with David Dhawan. While their Jodi No 1 has opened to excellent houses, Jeetendra's home production Kyonki ... Main Jhooth Nahin Bolta (where he stars opposite Sushmita Sen) is also in the making.

But besides the Dhawan films, Govinda also needs other deft directors for his career to reach the next level. From now on, Govinda swears that he'll do fewer films especially in the wake of his TV show Chappar Phad Ke. Though his mathematical definition of 'few' may not be the conventional one, he is serious about attempting a serious role for the awards.

There is certain serendipity about Govinda today which comes from a feeling of achievement-fuelled security. Being a nice person has always been important — he continues to act in brother Kirti Kumar's films despite their box office disasters. On the home front, he pampers daughter Narmada (he invited Hrithik Roshan to her birthday party) and son Yash (in whose name he has begun his distribution concern). The Rani Mukherji rumours have not rocked his house. His career, too, is following a linear line upwards.

And as Govinda has always jokingly hoped, an Oscar is in his career's trajectory... A tall order but if he reaches for the sky, at least he will end up with a fistful of stars.