New Delhi: Sunny Deol has never shied away from expressing his feelings in real life, despite the rough guys he plays on screen. During a conversation with his three most successful and frequent collaborators, filmmakers Rahul Rawail, Anil Sharma, and Rajkumar Santoshi, Sunny broke down in tears at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Goa.
As Sunny spoke with the three directors who helped to mould his career, he was clearly moved. In a video that has been making the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), the actor—who recently starred in the hugely popular Gadar 2—is seen crying at a specific comment made by Rajkumar Santoshi. Rajkumar is quoted as adding, "I believe that the industry has not done justice to Sunny’s talent. But God has done justice." in a story by The Indian Express, even though the comment is not audible in the video. Sunny breaks down at this point.
On being asked about his journey by Rajkumar Santoshi, Sunny said, "I have been really very lucky. I just get too emotional, that’s my problem. I was very fortunate. I started with Rahul. He gave me three beautiful films. Some worked, some didn’t. But till today, people remember those films. I am standing here because of my films. After Gadar, which was a massive hit, my struggle period had started because subjects or scripts were not offered to me and things were not happening."
"Even though I did some films in between, there was a gap of 20 years. But I did not give up. I was always moving forward. I joined films because I wanted to become an actor, not a star. I had seen the films of my father and I too wanted to do films of that variety," he added.
In 1983, Sunny Deol made his screen debut in Rahul's romantic film Betaab. With Rajkumar Santoshi's successful films, including Ghayal (1990), Damini (1993), and Ghatak: Lethal (1996), the actor became well-known in the 1990s. He and Rajkumar will soon work together again on Aamir Khan's historical drama 1947 Lahore. With Anil Sharma, Sunny earned the biggest hits of his career with the 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and the more recent Gadar 2, which grossed over ₹500 crore at the Indian box office.
Sunny will also be seen in the film Baap.