“About time a film of mine was well-received” – Sunny Deol at his candid best

By Subhash K. Jha -

November 26, 2013 - 10:49 AM IST

Now that Anil Sharma's Singh Saab the Great is a success, Sunny Deol who plays the angry Sardar for the sixth time in his career, is in no mood to mince words about way the film industry functions nowadays.

Sighs Sunny, "About time a film of mine was well-received. I am tired of the long non-happening phase. Unfortunately I haven't had too many releases recently. There are some of my films that are on hold. Hopefully, those will be released soon. But let me add I don't need to prove myself. I just need good cinema, the kind of cinema I believe in."

“About time a film of mine was well-received” – Sunny Deol at his candid best

Finally why a co-star half his age in Singh Saab The Great?

Laughs Sunny, "We are acting. We are not really husband and wife. If she's much younger that's fine. A lot of wives are much younger than husbands. That's no secret. And by the way I am sure Urvashi is not 19 either."

Sunny shocks me with his honesty. "I've had problems with established heroines. For reasons best known to them they don't want to work with me. It's a fact. The top heroines turn me down whenever I ask them to work with me. They want to work with Shah Rukh, Salman and Hrithik. So it's fine. I search for new heroines, like Urvashi Rautela. These girls do not ration dates. While working on a film I don't have to deal with my heroine's tantrums when she's a newcomer. Now if you give an A-lister co-star I won't be able to work with her. Mujhse unke nakhre nahin bardaasht honge. Also, I get a chance to give new talent to the film industry. So yeah, I'll be seen with new co-stars in the future. There are lots of new talented and pretty girls in the industry. And trust me these new girls won't look mismatched with me. I am open to adapting myself to the changes around me."

Speaking of his affinity to Sardarji roles, Sunny says, "I don't know how it happened. It started with JP Dutta's Border. These Sardarji roles offer me powerful characters. Singh Saab The Great may seem old fashioned to some. I suggest they move out of Mumbai and look at the rest of the country. Har kahaani ka apna rang hota hai."

Lately, Sunny has been going on television to promote his films. "I've to confess I enjoyed it."

Regarding the sorry box-office outcome of his last film Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 Sunny says he had no idea how it would pan out. "Forget what I thought about the film. It's what the audience thought that matters. They rejected the film, and that's that. It may have deserved to flop. But are you trying to tell me that only good deserving films do well? There are so many films that you feel are not working out well and they turn into hits.