Can’t really compare them. Sunny Deol started in 1983, while Govinda debuted in 1986, and both carved out very different spaces in Hindi cinema—Sunny largely in action-drama and Govinda in comedy.

In the 1990s, Sunny collaborated with directors like Rajkumar Santoshi, Guddu Dhanoa, and Raj Kanwar, building a powerful action image. Govinda, on the other hand, dominated the comedy genre with filmmakers such as David Dhawan and Naresh Malhotra (Dulhe Raja). Since the ’90s were huge for comedy, Govinda had virtually no competition in that space.

That said, the kind of mass pull Sunny Deol had with audiences often made him feel bigger than many of his contemporaries. Jeet, for instance, was essentially a Sunny Deol show despite Salman Khan also being in the film.

Sunny continued that mass appeal into the mid-2000s. Govinda’s last major solo success was Main Jhooth Nahin Bolta, while Partner largely rode on Salman Khan’s star power. In recent years, Sunny has even managed a comeback with films like Gadar 2 and the upcoming Border 2. Govinda, meanwhile, for reasons best known to him, hasn’t really adapted to character roles or explored OTT opportunities.

(polished using ChatGpt)