Sunny Deol has reflected on one of the most challenging phases of his career, revealing that he remained happy even when he was dealing with debt worth nearly Rs. 56 crore. The actor recalled how he eventually sold his own asset to settle the outstanding amount, while also discussing the career lull that followed his early-2000s success with films such as ‘Gadar’ and ‘Indian’. His comments come amid the release of his latest film, ‘Batwara 1947’.
Sunny Deol recalls career slowdown after ‘Gadar’ and ‘Indian’
Sunny Deol’s career hit a rough patch following ‘Gadar’, one of his most iconic successes from the early 2000s, but he insists the slide wasn’t abrupt. “Along with Gadar, I also delivered Indian, which was a much bigger hit than Lagaan and all the other films of that time. It did two to three times of Lagaan’s business. Gadar did much more than that,” he said in a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra on his podcast.N Maharajan’s 2001 action thriller ‘Indian’ released a few months after Gadar and earned R’s. 43 crore, compared to Ashutosh Gowariker’s ‘Lagaan’, which collected Rs. 34 crore in India. ‘Gadar, which released the same day as ‘Lagaan’, went on to rake in Rs. 77 crore domestically.Reflecting on what changed after that peak, Sunny said, “Suddenly, corporates came in, and the film industry’s format began changing. But after that, I don’t know why I wasn’t getting the right subjects and makers.” Even his 2005 film Jo Bole So Nihaal ran into trouble after facing objections from the Sikh community, a controversy that turned tragic when a bombing at a Delhi theatre screening the film killed one person and injured 49 others.“That film didn’t go too far because of politics. So, we had to withdraw it because of certain issues. These days, when politics is entering films, that should not happen. We’re not doing anything. We’re just entertainers. Anyone says anything rubbish outside of India, but there’s no censorship on that,” Sunny argued.
Sunny Deol says he remained happy despite Rs. 56 crore debt
Despite the professional setbacks, Sunny maintains he never let financial pressure dictate his choices. “I can’t do so many things for money. But to be very honest, I’m very happy. Even when I was in debt, I was very happy. I was living my life,” he said.The debt in question, Rs. 55.99 crore, led a bank to issue an e-auction notice on Sunny Villa just days after ‘Gadar 2’ opened to massive numbers three years ago, over defaulted payments and interest. He explains the loan traced back to his 2016 directorial venture Ghayal Returns. “The money I owed was all mine. I didn’t borrow it from anyone. I didn’t owe anyone anything. I just had to sell my own asset and pay back,” he said. The bank withdrew its notice once he agreed to settle the outstanding amount.
Why Sunny Deol’s directorial ventures caused financial strain
‘Ghayal Returns’ marked the second of three occasions Sunny stepped into the director’s chair, following the 1999 film ‘Dillagi’ with brother Bobby Deol, and preceding 2019’s ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’, which introduced his son Karan Deol to acting. None of the three found box office success, adding considerable financial strain along the way.“I don’t know why it didn’t work. So many people come up to me and say they loved ‘Dillagi’, but I can’t help it. I did what I wanted to, and gave my best. I always trust a person and move ahead rather than having doubts in my head. You need to be fully invested in everything — business, acting, and direction. So, it becomes very difficult to do all of them at the same time,” Sunny explained.Sunny had earlier revealed to Screen that producers were reluctant to fund a reunion with Rajkumar Santoshi, the director behind his career-defining hattrick of ‘Ghayal’ (1990), ‘Damini’ (1993) and ‘Ghatak’ (1996). It was only after the success of ‘Gadar 2’ that Aamir Khan stepped in to back Santoshi’s next project, ‘Batwara 1947’, headlining Sunny once again.“We were sitting on this story since 2010, but we were fortunate that Aamir wanted to do this film since he had heard it much earlier,” Sunny shared.
Where ‘Batwara 1947’ stands at the box office
Despite marking Sunny’s reunion with Santoshi after three decades, ‘Batwara 1947’ has had a modest opening weekend, collecting Rs. 26.50 crore domestically, a number that falls short of even the single-day opening of his previous release, ‘Border 2’. The Partition-era drama continues its theatrical run with eyes on whether it can build momentum through the coming week.
