Sunny days here again
ANUJ KUMAR
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As Sunny Deol charts familiar territory with "Naksha", the actor tells us what's on the anvil.
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The advantage with the remakes is that they carry the goodwill of the original. I am planning to do the sequels of `Betaab' and `Ghayal'.
PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM
BRAWN APPEAL Sunny Deol in New Delhi.
After a break, Sunny Deol is back on the Bollywood map with "Naksha", releasing this Friday and going by the promos, Sunny is again showcasing his unilateral understanding of the word action. "No," says Sunny, "After a long time an adventure film is coming to cinema halls. It's a complete entertainer with elements of thrills, comedy and romance gelling well with action. I hope the kids will love it, so will the youth."
As for the plot, Sunny, who plays a forest officer called Veer says it's a story of two step brothers (Sunny and Viveik Oberoi) who are forced by circumstances to track a mystery map, because if it falls in wrong hands, the safety of humanity would be at stake.
Sounds familiar, but Sunny holds since nothing is original these days, it's the treatment that matters. It includes shooting in some interesting locations. "We have shot at Manali and Rohtang Pass in India, Thailand and New Zealand. A large part has been shot in jungles. There are some riveting action sequences shot on cliffs, rapids, and rafting."
Variety in action
Known for doing his action sequences himself, Sunny says with his back holding fine, he has done most of the sequences himself. But times have changed. In the days of "Matrix"-inspired action sequences, Sunny's earthy variety exemplified by that inner wear advertisement seems aged. "It's true people love innovation in action sequences, but I believe they also like the way I fight. Then it also depends on the script. However, I have incorporated the new ways of action, like all those wired-shots in `Naksha'. It was really difficult in the first couple of days, but then I managed. It's also a means to satisfy my interests in sports."
What the actor with two-left feet has also performed this time is the dance number "Jat Yamla" on the lines of the popular "Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana" performed by his father Dharmendra in "Pratigya" some three decades back. "In fact, they have given me the same steps," he quips.
Cliched image
Interestingly, it is this stereotypical image that has been Deol brothers' undoing. They are seen in the light of their father's image, which he built towards the end of his career. They are supposed to swear by the bullet and sound ferocious. The Sunny of "Sunny" or Sunny of "Yateem" is hardly seen. For once, Sunny agrees. "It's a matter of revenue. There so much money involved that neither the producers, nor the distributors and exhibitors want to take risk. You can try little, little things but nothing drastic."
Still rapped by the English media for "Gadar", Sunny is no longer caustic. "First they didn't understand that the film was more than just the Indo-Pakistan acrimony. Then when I tried to put across my point of view, they twisted it to suit their outlook. I thought it's better to keep quiet, and let the box office answer."
The controversy erupted again with his last release "Jo Bole So Nihaal". "It was politically motivated. I have heard the film has been shown on television recently."
Somebody who is rarely seen in media, Sunny says he is a hero of the masses and doesn't need to be seen with the who's who of the business or fashion world to make a statement or give an opinion on each and everything in life. "We do lots of charity work, but don't want to make it to newspaper pages, otherwise the purpose is lost." This is vindicated by a recent poll by a weekly magazine where Sunny figures among the top 10 who are going to rule the box office this year despite not many releases in 2006. He is just one percentage point behind Salman Khan. Similarly, when he turned up at Wave, Noida to address the "Naksha" press conference, a sea of humanity tried to mob him.
Seniority works!
Now a senior in the industry, Sunny shares his experience of working with youngsters Viveik and Sameera Reddy. "Viveik is so talkative while I am the reticent type. This helped in the on-screen chemistry because the script expected to play us similar characters, where he gets into trouble because of his casual lifestyle and I save him. But towards the end of the shooting when I came into my own, Viveik used to run away from me," he laughs. "On the other hand it took a long time to break the ice with Sameera. She was overawed because of my seniority," he adds. He, however, clears that Sameera is cast opposite Vivek and there is no triangle involved.
These are the days of remakes of past hits but Sunny sees nothing new in it. "As I said there are hardly any original scripts in our industry. Here the advantage is that the film carries the goodwill of the original with it. I am planning to do the sequels of `Betaab' and `Ghayal'."
This brings us to his production house, which is on silent mode after the box office failure of "Socha Na Tha" despite announcing some big budget movies like " Deodhar Gandhi" and "Prithviraj Samyukata". "I am revamping the production house. I am looking for some investors. We used to produce our films, but this leaves little time to look into the creative side."
Sunny is now looking forward to the Deols' trusted lieutenant Anil Sharma's "Apne" where the Deol brothers and father Dharmendra would be seen together for the first time. "We always wanted to do it but it took us so long because we were looking for the right script. Though father and I have earlier worked together in `Sunny' and `Kshatriya', it is for the first time that we all would be seen together. It was like a family outing."
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