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He lives up to his real name, Ajay
Singh Deol. Ajay means invincible and there’s no denying Sunny’s
invincibility at the box-office. A Sunny Deol starrer is sure to
lure the Ludhiana crowd, or so the industry adage goes. And it still
rings true. Look at his latest release Champion for instance. Though
the film didn’t do well in the metros, it’s still running
to packed houses in Punjab. That’s the pure Punjab da puttar
appeal Sunny has. Just like his dad Dharmendra. A chip of the old
block? Well and truly...
His debut film Betaab (1983) set the box office on fire and soon
enough, Sunny was labelled the next angry young man on the prowl.
Rahul Rawail’s Arjun (1985) followed and overnight, Sunny had
carved a special niche for himself. The hits started pouring in
but the bouquets started arriving only with the release of Ghayal
(1990). It also marked the beginning of the (short-lived) Raj Santoshi-Sunny
Deol combination. Santoshi’s Damini not only got Sunny the
accolades but also his first national award.
Sunny was on a roll and how! Touted as the highest paid actor on
the block, Sunny’s ‘sunny’ spell at the box-office
continued with NR Paschisia’s Ziddi and Sajid Nadiadwala’s
Jeet. High on success, Sunny started scouring story ideas for his
home production. When plans of making a love story based in London,
called London, fell through, the Deol announced Dillagi, his first
directorial venture co-starring brother Bobby.
Suddenly, all his other projects were put on the back burner, even
as Sunny put his heart and soul into his home production. Though
the film failed at the box-office, not even the critics doubted
Sunny’s directorial ability.
Says Padam Kumar, close friend and also, the director of Champion,
“He should definitely direct another film. Dillagi was a good
film. Inspite of his action image, he looked like a true romantic
in the film. He looked like a man hopelessly in love. It’s
unfortunate the film didn’t do well. That’s largely due
to his action image.
He’s got this image of an action hero. So he’s forced
to do only a certain kind of roles. Even Govinda has the same problem.
Look at him. He’s such a brilliant actor and so versatile.
But he has to break free from his image and that’s very difficult.
Likewise with Sunny. The day he’s able to do that, and I foresee
it coming, there’ll be no stopping him. But all said and done,
let’s face it, you can never lose money in a Sunny Deol starrer.
Champion is doing fabulous business in the interiors. And to think,
nobody mentions the fact that Sunny had the confidence to work with
a new director. He’s one of the few top actors to have worked
with so many new directors. From Raj Kumar Santoshi to Dharmesh
Dharshan to me. As for his hold on the audience, nobody can question
that. He’s in a league of his own. He’s like a dependable
big brother - the typical bade bhaiya. Rock solid, be it in his
personal or professional life.”
Brother Bobby Deol sums up Sunny’s charisma in just one sentence.
“Bhaiya is simply the best.” And that just about says
it all.
THIRD
TIME LUCKY?
NR Pachisia on Farz and Sunny Deol:
I have made a hundred percent hard-core commercial film. I must
say, Farz was a very difficult film to make. Sunny, Preity Zinta,
Jackie Shroff, the director Raj Kanwar, they are all busy people.
Matching their dates was a task. Which is why I completed Arjun
Pandit first. Juhi was just doing two films at that time. Preity
on the other hand, had overnight become a big star, though I must
say the girl went out of her way to accommodate the film. So did
Sunny.
In the last five years I’ve made three films with Sunny. Ziddi
was a superhit and Arjun Pandit did terrific business. Farz is the
third in line. What can I say about Sunny? He’s a fabulous
actor and an equally fabulous human being. We have a great working
relationship. As an actor, I think he’s amazing. He’s
evolved so much.
And wait till you see his performance in Farz. He’s too good.
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