As amusing as Asranis characters are the story behind his name is equally fascinating. Hardly any hero or heroine in the film industry has such a story. Most Bollywood actors became famous by their original names or altered film names but Asrani was the only actor who became known by his surname. His one-syllable name truly sounds playful and endearing. Asrani passed away on 20th October 2025 and tributes poured in. His film roles were remembered. During this time many people learned for the first time that his full name was Govardhan Asrani. In other words his name was Govardhan and his surname was Asrani. Rarely has an actor in the history of the film industry become popular not by his first name but by his surname. His surname became his primary name. Why was Asrani addressed with his surname not Govardhan? The names of actors in the Hindi film industry also have interesting stories. The practice of using one-syllable names has existed for a long time such as Dharmendra Jitendra Nutan Nargis Sadhana Madhubala Ranjeet Jeevan Jagdeep and even Kajol. Its worth noting that these artists never considered it necessary to include a surname with their name. It wasnt until much later that people learned that Dharmendra was Deol Jitendra was Ravi Kapoor Ranjeet was Gopal Bedi Nargis became Dutt after marrying Sunil Dutt or that Nutan and Kajol were from Bengali families. Yet they all became popular on the silver screen and among fans with names without surnames. The Story of Surnames in Bollywood Sadhanas full name was Sadhana Shivdasani but she became famous simply by the name Sadhana. Looking back in history artists who didnt use a single-syllable name were often prefixed with Kumar or Kumari such as Ashok Kumar Dilip Kumar Rajendra Kumar Raj Kumar Manoj Kumar and Akshay Kumar. However in later years the original names and surnames of these artists were no longer a secret. But in this tradition and list Asrani stands alone as an artist known solely by his surname. Why and how did this happen? Where was Govardhan Asrani From? Its worth noting that Asrani originally belonged to a Sindhi Hindu family. He was a resident of Jaipur Rajasthan. Apparently his ancestors had migrated from Sindh and settled here. He was associated with the radio station in Jaipur. Before moving to Pune or Mumbai he worked as a voice-over artist. His voice was clear crisp and his pronunciation was excellent. His voice-over performance was impressive. This helped him gain recognition as an artist. People started calling him Asrani leaving Govardhan behind in this call. When Asrani Became Popular with His Surname Later when he went to the Mumbai film industry to pursue acting he first had to turn to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. He was told that training would make the path to becoming an actor easier. So he completed an acting course. During the FTII course each actor is required to make their own short film either acting or directing it. Interestingly in the FTII film Asrani starred in during his training his name is prominently listed as Asrani. The actors name is listed next to his character Dev as G.K. Asrani. This means his full name is Govardhan Kumar Asrani. Here too the name Govardhan was not clearly spelled. Did Asrani Decide to Continue with His Surname? The films credit line reveals that no one advised him to use Asrani instead of Govardhan while trying his luck in films; rather it was his own decision. He already used Asrani prominently. He once recounted that in casual conversations people often referred to him by his surname Asrani rather than Govardhan because Asrani was more comfortable to pronounce than Govardhan and it also sounded more pleasant. The word became so ingrained in peoples tongues that he later had Asrani written on screen instead of Govardhan and became famous by his surname. Even today despite knowing Govardhan people prefer to call him Asrani.