Trying times for Sunny
Gautam Grover

HE is Bollywood’s “dynamic hero” — the quintessential macho man with a rugged physique and a penchant for explosive action, much like his famous father, Dharmendra. He has even inherited the latter’s sensitive looks and infectious smile — just right for romantic roles as well. Sunny Deol had everything going for him till he decided to take up direction last year. He got his family, including brother Bobby, behind him for ‘Dillagi’, went to London, spent a fortune on the film and since then, has not recovered. The film was a major box-office catastrophe.

After that, Sunny appeared in two films — Padam Kumar’s ‘Champion’ and Rajkumar Kanwar’s ‘Farz’. Both were ambitious projects, but somehow the timing of their release was not right. They continue to draw packed houses in Punjab, but elsewhere the films were a total washout.

“It is very unfortunate that ‘Dillagi’ failed,” comments Padam Kumar. “In the first place, Sunny should not have taken to direction. But having done so, he should have immediately directed another film. That way, he could have corrected his image in the public eye.”

Sunny’s abiding image has been one of an action hero — menacing, controlled and confident. He had cultivated this since the days of ‘Arjun’ and ‘Ghayal’ (1985-90) and when he won the national award for Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Damini’ in 1993, the image stuck.

Since then, he has made the best of his persona with successive hits like N.R.Paschisia’s ‘Ziddi’ and Sajid Nadiadwala’s ‘Jeet,’ and at one stage had emerged as the highest-paid actor in Hindi films. Other action heroes like Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty had begun fading out by then.

“He’s got this image of an action hero,” reiterates Kumar. “So when he did ‘Dilagi’, the audience found it hard to accept him. He looked like a man hopelessly in love. The film was no doubt good and at another time or even, with another actor, it would have done exceedingly well.”

Agrees Kanwar: “The problem is that audiences want to see more of the action hero in Sunny than a romantic. This is rather unfortunate as he is such a brilliant actor and so versatile. This is exactly the same problem Govinda faces. He just can’t break free from his image of a buffoon.”

Another problem, Kanwar feels, is that Sunny is not an “expressively fun-loving sort” like his father and brother. He is very cooperative on the sets, follows instructions like a schoolboy and can be a tiger on the screen. But after work, he is a very private person.

“That is the most intriguing part,” says the director of ‘Farz’ “I have seen him behaving like a ten-year-old on outdoor shoots abroad. But once back home, he goes into a shell. He doesn’t believe in partying, socialising being seen or giving interviews to the media. That is bad PR for someone in films.”

In ‘Farz’, Kanwar had cast Sunny as a ruthless police officer who “believes that crime is a disease and he is the only cure”. He describes this as an “action-oriented romantic film” with Mahima Choudhury playing his love interest.

“Sunny should play more such roles in order to re-establish himself,” advises Kanwar.” It is wrong to imagine that action films don’t stand a change in front of soft, romantic and melody packed films. The Hindi film industry does not follow any trends. It is always the entertainment value that matters.”

Padam Kumar however, feels that the day Sunny outgrows his “action hero image”, there will be no stopping him. He has already cut down on work and is very selective about what he does these days. Being out of the public eye for some time could well be the turning point in his career, he adds.
— MF

Bollywood Digest
An Indo-US joint venture announced
Lakshmi Menon

• Producer Inayat Ali has announced a Indo-U.S. joint venture, ‘Son of Tarzan’ with Mickey Opal playing the title role. Rajesh Bakshi will direct the film on location at Mysore, once the heroine and other members of the cast are finalised.
• Producer-director J. Neelam has signed Satnam Kaur as the leading lady for ‘Har Raat Naya Khiladi’. Shooting will be conducted on a start-to-finish schedule at Film City and other locations of Bombay. Meanwhile, the search is on for a hero and other members of the cast.
• Director Akashdeep launched ‘Aur Phir Ek Din’ with the recording of two songs by music composers Jatin-Lalit. Starring Jackie Shroff, Raveena Tandon, Chandrachur Singh and Anupam Kher, the film will mount the sets shortly.
• Many action, dramatic and romantic scenes were filmed for ‘Kaboo’ over a seven-day shoot at Mohan Studio, Bombay. With Vicky Ranawat as producer and director, the film has Faisal Khan, Rajat Bedi, Tora Khasgir and Sayaji Shinde leading the cast.
• One song and many romantic and emotional scenes were filmed for ‘Pyar To Hota Hai Pyar’ over a month-long shoot at different locations of Bombay. While Mohan Bagga is the producer and director, Abbas Khan, Ashima Bhalla, Om Puri and Gulshan Grover lead the cast.
• Sunny Deol, Arbaaz Khan, Tabu and Avtar Gill took part in a 24-day shoot for ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ on location at Kulu Manali. Director Tinu Verma shot some hair raising action scenes and the climax of the film during this schedule.
• Producer Ketan Desai returned from Australia with the unit of an hitherto untitled film, starring Salman Khan, Amisha Patel, Rinke Khanna and Rishi Kapoor. Director David Dhawan canned many action and dramatic scenes during this schedule.
• Cinematographer-director Anil Dhanda completed the last four days of filming for ‘Dil Se Teri Yaad Na Jaye’ at Crown Studios, Bombay. Lead stars Rajeev Raaj, Anu Kashyap Viplove Singh and Yunus Parvez took part.

— MF