"It is not just Punjab. The kind of love and affection I get all over the country is the same": Sunny Deol

By: Faridoon Shahryar, IndiaFM
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Well if his Dad was known for kutte kameene...Ma ka dudh piya hai to... kinda dialogues, the son is still associated with Ye Dhai Kilo Ka Haath Jab Padta Hai Na...To Aadmi Uthta Nahin Hai...Uth Jaata Hai...Meet Sunny Deol, the media shy star who continues to be a bankable actor at the ticket window after twenty five years in the movie business. And that too in the lead role. First up, his thoughts on the famous dialogue from Damini where he had a power packed supporting role. "Those films were written well. Dialogues were good. They went with the character and that's why they are remembered again and again. People give me references of it. But it's been a long time that we haven't had that kind of writing," Sunny said in an exclusive interview with us on the terrace of Sunny Super Sound Studio overlooking the calm evening sea.

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the Deols these days. In Anil Sharma's Apne, Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby shall share screen space for the first time. While Sunny had a release in Ahmed Khan's Fool N Final last week, kid bro Bobby is looking forward to a turnaround in his career with films like Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom, Naqaab and more around the corner. Of course Dhamendra's kiss-on-the-sly with Nafisa Ali in Life in a... Metro has been a talking point.

The Music Launch of Apne was one of the biggest events in the film industry in the recent times with thespian Dilip Kumar, eternal style icon Dev Anand gracing the occasion along with Salman Khan, Govinda, the three Deols, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif etc. "Dad came in the industry always dreaming about Dilip (Kumar) Sahab. He was his icon. Dilip Sahab was the person Dad adored. Dev (Anand) Sahab was another gentleman with whom he interacted when he first came to Bombay. So, we thought that it's (Apne) his film and it would give him great honour if they would be there. And that's why they came. And Papa and Dev Sahab have interacted so much over the years. They have a bond and love for each other that I doubt actors can only dream of," Sunny said.

You said in an interview recently that your dad's fans have passed on to you and Bobby. And Dharamji had replied to your statement by saying that you were being generous when you said that. "When we talk about star sons, we do get an easy launch. But there's a lot of responsibility. It also depends on how good you are. So, obviously the fans which were there for my dad have rubbed on to us because they thought we are worthy of it." The Deol family has always had a huge fan base in Punjab. "It is not just Punjab. The kind of love and affection I get all over the country is the same. Punjab is our hometown, that's why the respect and love is unbelievable." Has Apne been shot in Punjab? "Apne is based in Punjab. It travels to America. Some portions have also been shot in Bangkok but it's not shown as Bangkok."

Talking about Apne... can you share its story idea? "It's difficult to talk about the story. You can't describe the whole film in a few words. All I can say is that it's a bonding film. It's a family film, family values. It has got a lot of entertaining elements and there are some nice choreographed boxing sequences in the film." Why did it take so long for the three Deols to come together? "We've been wanting this thing to happen for years and years. But unfortunately we couldn't get the right script. We didn't want to do a thing where three stars are there, sell it and don't worry about the content of the film. We were not getting the right script. We had nearly given up till Sharmaji came up and narrated us the idea. From there were took it up and within a year we finished the film and now we are talking about it." And why the title Apne? "That's what suits the subject. No other reason," Sunny says.

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