“I am not a quitter”
The moment you say , the Sunny Deol immediate association is ‘Dhai kilo ka haath’ his dialogue from the film Damini. Decades later, people still fear his wrath, though he is completely different from his onscreen persona. A simple man, soft spoken, gentle and extremely polite, yet you cannot miss the steel beneath it all, writes Shubarna Mukerji Shu of Bollywood Insider.
In the blistering heat, we are seated in a chilled room, awaiting our turn to speak to Sunny Deol, the man of the hour. He walks in with just one request, “AC chalao!” Right before the room turns frigid, we decided to start our many questions to Mr. Elusive. Though Blank might not have been a 100Cr project, the film has received good word-of-mouth publicity and is touted to be one of the better films this year. Of course, for Sunny Deol, it was a film he did for Simple Kapadia’s son, Karan Kapadia who debuts in the film. Yet, in retrospect, his goodwill has given him his first decent success in years. What’s the mindset like for a star in changing times, we had to find out….
Despite not hitting the coveted 100Cr mark, Blank has been appreciated on all quarters, so would you say it has heralded good times?
Of course, in many ways, it was most important to have received so much appreciation for the film. For both Karan Kapadia and our director, it was a debut attempt; I was merely supporting them. It does seem like they have managed to do wonders for themselves in their very first attempt. It reinstates faith in talent; so I am happy. A lot of people consider success in terms of money, perhaps that’s the new definition of it, but I believe that appreciation does go a longer way….
Currently, you have been working a lot with newcomers, new directors – do you see the change in cinema since the time you started till today?
Everything is changing, the politics, the people and of course the mindset – with it, the country is also changing. So, these are times when one has to move forward… if you sit down and think about how times have changed, you will be wasting energy and time. I am not someone who ponders too much about these things. You tell me what needs to be done, I will do it. You will never find me over analyzing anything, be it success or failure or in this case, change.
However, you will have to be blind to not notice a few things…. The ambience in the industry has changed a lot now, and it is sad that today people only want to make hit films which fetches good money at the box office, unlike in the past when films were being made to please all kinds of audiences. It is sad that they are not as keen to make a good film which is not commercially viable at the box office. It is corporatization I believe, but it’s not my cup of tea. I have never seen a film or heard a script and thought, would this film be saleable?
Perhaps that’s why it is so difficult for me to fit into the new religion of filmmaking. Everyone is speaking numbers. Everyone is trying to cash-in on the latest trends. It is too emotionless, too mechanical for my choice.
You say it is not your cup of tea, yet you are reinventing yourself every Friday…
I am not a quitter! You say I am reinventing myself, I say I am doing what I have to do. In all these years as an actor, after amassing a repertoire of work, I still struggle. I am waiting for good scripts, I am waiting for someone to come with something that will help me push the envelope, but that has not happened. So what do I do, sit and lament? Nah! You keep moving. You work around what you have. You cannot get tired; you just have to keep climbing up the mountain. I don’t have any mantras to say, I simply do what I am supposed to do. I simply carry on moving forward, never once forgetting that I am in a place, in a space where others only aspire to be, it is not possible to be anything but grateful. I know I have to keep moving, keep walking, tirelessly.
Off late, we are seeing you in rather diverse roles like in Mohalla Assi, Bhaiyyaji Superhit, etc… but do you still consider yourself as an action hero; is that your preferred image as an actor?
I never tried to make an image for myself. I wasn’t the first to do action roles, my father - Dharmendra, Amitji, they all did it earlier. As an actor, I have tried my best to look believable in the roles I play. But that’s all the effort I have put in. If I am called an action hero, I’d lay the entire blame on the press but also the industry as a whole for saddling me with the image of the action hero. I am simply trying to get into the skin of various characters to prove my versatility as an actor; like in Mohalla Assi, which was stuck for many years unfortunately. It had me in a dignified role which was appreciated by all the fans with Sakshi Tanwar as my leading lady.
The image that you are saddled with depends on the kinds of character you get and you have to struggle to get roles day in and day out
So how do you go about choosing scripts?
There is no rule as such. It cannot be so stringent; you need to go with your gut feeling. If I sat down to analyse each and every script that came my way, the few films that I have done, which have been successful, wouldn’t have come to me. I really believe that the script should connect with you, talk to you. That’s all.
When we see how well-rehearsed and calculative the new breed of actors are, listening to your modus operandi seems like a whole different school of thought…
There cannot be a comparison between newcomers today and those earlier or even in the late 90s. I don’t think you can call them newcomers; they are completely prepared for any eventuality. They know exactly what they are doing, why they are doing it etc… it wasn’t the case earlier. If someone told us to turn our face to the left, we would – knowing nothing about the technicalities.
Karan for instance was working on Blank even before they started filming it which is wonderful. When you are associated with a film for that long, you are familiar with the smallest possible nuances. But at the heart, every newcomer is the same as the other. Everyone is new in a world that’s very different and alien to them, and yet, they are trying their best to make their space. So emotion-wise, I don’t think anything is different, maybe as you said the modus operandi is different.
Talking about different modus operandi, your action is very raw as compared to the kind of work VFX-gen are used to. Is it your personal preference?
I really like films to be believable, even if it is a fantasy film, somewhere you need to feel that it could happen…. When I started doing action, I am speaking way back in time, we did everything on our own. Yes, it looked raw, because we were raw. I don’t know when things started changing, I don’t think I can put a finger on it and say, yes this is when the change happened. But it did and somehow Bollywood action has started looking too polished. I think I will stick to the raw edges for a while. Not only because it comes naturally to me, but because it is more realistic. Yes, we go larger than life, but only to an extent. Let’s not forget that action is also an emotion. One needs to feel it to the core for it to translate into something believable onscreen.
With films like Border which was a thundering success, your association with patriotic cinema started and now the whole scenario has snowballed. Today it is one of the trending genres in Bollywood… are you also trying to get back on the wagon?
Firstly, I don’t think patriotic is a genre of cinema. Patriotism is love for one’s motherland, one’s country. That’s how I have done the films. I don’t think about genres….
What about multi-starrers? You have known to be the actor who takes the limelight from your co-actors, be it Border – which was a multistarrer, Damini – where you played a smaller role, Darr – where you were pitted against Shah Rukh Khan. Yet, it has been years since we have seen you in a multi-star cast venture. Why are you staying away from it?
I am not someone who steals people’s thunder. However, the fact is that it has been a while since I got a script that I fit into, with an ensemble cast. It hasn’t happened; hence I have not been able to do such a part. It is all connected.
