Actors Govinda and Salman Khan have been friends for over four decades. Besides starring together in the 2007 film Partner, Govinda played a major supportive role in Salman’s early struggling days. In a recent interview, the veteran actor recalled his conversation with Salman Khan before beginning the shoot of their comedy drama. Govinda recalled the difficult phase in Salman’s life and the advice he gave him at the time.During a conversation with ANI, Govinda revealed that Salman Khan was going through a painful period at the time. “Salman was going through a lot of pain and distress. And when someone is troubled by himself, whether it is because of love, hopes, or expectations, there is no one else who can really cure that. So, he had become very withdrawn. I thought I should introduce him to satya (truth), so we sat together and had a drink. While we were drinking, I told him, ‘Salman, you’ve looked outward enough. Now look within yourself’,” he shared.The veteran actor gave his own example of being overweight in Partner. “At that time, I weighed 114 kilos. It was the time when I had just come out of politics. I told him, ‘By the time I lose weight, I’ll already be a character actor, right? I’ll continue doing the kind of roles I was doing in Partner, I was doing comedy’. I told him, ‘You are the hero, but you don’t look like one right now. You look unhappy, you look sad. Come out of this’,” he added.ALSO READ | ‘Chehra utar gaya hai, baal kam hain’: Govinda recalls advising Salman Khan to get surgery, change his look before PartnerGovinda advised him to start exercising for 2-3 hours a day. He also compared the actor’s screen presence to late legend Dharmendra. “I said, ‘Exercise for two or three hours a day. Look at Dharmendra. You are the only hero, after Dharmendra, who has been blessed by God with parents, siblings, a good face and a great personality. You are the only guy who could carry that kind of aura, the kind that makes people look at you and say, ‘That’s a hero’,” he said.The actor shared that Salman followed his advice and achieved success in the film industry. “He did it. He could do it, and that’s a blessing. I told him that he would rule for 10 years and he did,” Govinda concluded.Salman Khan and Govinda shared screen space in the 2007 comedy drama, Partner. The movie was directed by David Dhawan. It also featured Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif.