Sunny Deol reveals big production houses hesitated to work with him, Dharmendra: ‘Kuch bhi karte hain toh hum darte nahin…’

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Sunny Deol said, “The reality of life is that there are camps everywhere. Camps usually go with the people who are part of them and who will do chamchagiri (sycophancy) for one another. Somehow, people who are very upfront… We are Jats, you know. Toh kuch bhi jo karte hain toh hum log darte nahin, hum karte hain. Aur hum sharmaate nahin kisi cheez se, sachche hain (So whatever we do, we are not afraid, we do it. And we are not ashamed of anything, we are honest). So people don’t like that.”

 

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“You can see that in the latter half of my dad’s career, in the 80s and 90s, lot of big (production) houses did not work with papa. I also didn’t have any house working with me. There were no houses there. But what happens is, when you are talented, you are there and you can give those things. So that’s how I became a producer, I tried to bring in films, we did try to do all those things. Lekin jab tak koi nahi aata, toh aap kuchh nahi ghar sakta hai, aapko ladte hi rehna pata hai (But until someone comes, you can’t do anything, you have to keep fighting),” he added.

Sunny Deol also praised Bobby Deol for revitalising his career by seizing the opportunity to work with Salman Khan in director Remo D’Souza’s Race 3 (2018), marking his return after a five-year break following Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (2013). “Fortunately, I think it all started off when Bobby did a film with Salman Khan and that’s where he changed himself and he wanted to. Because he realised that at end of the day, it is ‘I’ who has to get up and do it. I have to kick the butt, not mine, but kick the butt out over there.”

Renowned for portraying intense, action-oriented characters, Sunny’s key films include Arjun (1985), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Tridev (1989), Ghayal (1990), Damini (1993), Darr (1993), Jeet (1996), Ghatak (1996), Ziddi (1997) and Arjun Pandit (1999). Notably, Ghayal earned him the National Film Award – Special Jury Mention, while Damini earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Sunny and Bobby Deol took part in the third edition of SCREEN Live.

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After his recent appearance in Gadar 2, Sunny Deol is now gearing up for the completion of Lahore 1947, a period drama directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, whose work includes films like Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Pukar (2000), Lajja (2001) and Khakee (2004). At the same time, Sunny is set to star in Gopichand Malineni’s action film Jaat, sharing the screen with Randeep Hooda, Saiyami Kher, Regina Cassandra, and Ravi Kishan, among others.