My brother and husband are very supportive, says Sunny Leone

89
27318

By Subhash K Jha

MUMBAI: Indo-Canadian porn queen Sunny Leone came to the Indian entertainment industry in 2011 when she entered the reality show Big Boss without disclosing her status as a porn star.

But it was during her participation in Big Boss that she was offered a role by Mahesh Bhatt in Jism 2 (sequel to the 2003 film Jism that featured Bipasha Basu). Later, she was signed by Ekta Kapoor for Ragini MMS 2.  In Shootout at Wadala, Sunny also featured in the item song Laila.

Sunny Leone opens up with Subhash K. Jha about her life in Bollywood and her future plans and how her family has reacted to her choices. Here is the interview:

Q: A lot has been happened to your career in Bollywood since we last spoke. How do you feel about the changes in your life and career?

This has been the most amazing transition that I could hope for. Being accepted and liked in another country is not something that happens all the time.

Sunny Leone with her brother Sandeep Vohra
Sunny Leone with her brother Sandeep Vohra.
sunny leone family
Sunny Leone with her husband Daniel Weber (standing right to her), brother Sandeep Vohra (sitting left) and her father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Q: How accepting has Bollywood been of you? Do you feel completely at home here?

Bollywood has been very accepting. I know there are people out there that don’t like me but there are more people liking me so it doesn’t bother me. I am very lucky that when I entered Bollywood I was coming with a fan-following already. And the Big Boss Season 5 show helped everyone else get to know me as a person. Moving to India from Hollywood was one of the easiest moves I have ever made. Effortless really.

Q: You performed an item song in Shootout At Wadala. How difficult was it for you to master all those filmy manoeuvres?

It was a challenge but I fortunately was working with one of the easiest choreographer Ahmed Khan and his team Karishma, Khalid and Bob. They made me feel so comfortable that is was able to relax and just dance. I was the child growing up that wanted to play football, hockey, basketball and so on, so this is a challenge for me to learn a whole new art. But something that I can promise anyone one I work with is that I am a fast learner and I work very very hard to get it right within the scope of my ability.

Q: Your  next project was Ekta Kapoor’s Ragini MMS 2? How comfortable were you in the horror genre?

Honestly I loved working on this film. There is a lot of performance in this movie and a huge range of emotions and of course horror. I don’t mind the idea of not looking pretty in every shot. To me this is my way of getting out of who I am and becoming someone completely different for the day. I’ll be able to talk in more detail once the movie comes out.

sunny leone
Sunny Leone.

Q: How much of the Indian film industry have you so far come to terms with?

I am not sure I fully understand this question. But I grew up in a typical Punjabi home and watched Hindi movies during my childhood. I understand Hindi and Punjabi and the Indian film industry is like every entertainment industry across the world. It all functions the same just in a different language. I have moved my whole world here and love this industry of Bollywood.

Q: Do you feel it’s hard for an outsider like you to crack the Bollywood code?

I can’t speak for someone else’s experiences in life but for me because of my background and the fact that I have been in entertainment for years did give me the basic understandings of how things work. But also again I work very very hard and around the clock trying my hardest to learn everything that Bollywood is. I’m not even sure if I have fully cracked the “code” but I have begun the process hopefully. It all depends on how my second, third and forth movies do. In all reality, I have only made one movie that has been released to the world. It all depends on how the world accepts me in those movies to come.

Q: Are you now  a full-on Mumbai girl? Have you and your husband settled down in Mumbai?

I feel very comfortable living here and it’s been the easiest move for he and I. We are very much settled and know the ins and out of Mumbai. I think the day I felt totally comfortable was when I started giving my driver directions.

Q: How does your family react to your new career as a Bollywood actress?

My husband obviously is my biggest supporter. He runs two other businesses and has his own musical band and yet still finds the time to be my husband and manage my career, he’s kind of like superman. My brother is very very supportive and has been from the beginning of my career. He’s a head chef in America and I hope one day he can move here so I see him more. My parents have passed away and I know they are looking down on me and smiling. If my mom and dad knew I met Madhuri Dixit the other day I know they would have been so excited. My father always told me over and over again, do what you want in life but make sure you are the best at what you do and work hard. My father left India to Canada with $200 USD in his pocket and worked his way up and I always admired his hard work.

Q: Have you bought your own home in Mumbai? Was it difficult for you to get property in Mumbai?

I have not purchased a home yet because my husband and I decided to see how things would move forward here in Bollywood before committing to buying something. It has also giving us a chance to get to know our surrounding and neighborhood that are nice to live in. It was a very easy process to find something we like and all tenants were very excited at the thought of a Bollywood actress living in their place. We are currently looking at new builds that fit in our time frame to buy. It’s very exciting.

Q: Have you left your days as an adult star behind? How do you look back on that experience?

Right now my whole focus is in Bollywood and nothing else. I believe I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime and I plan to keep my focus and energy here till the fans want me. If it wasn’t for my past I would not be who I am. I am not ashamed of it because it has brought me here to India. If I came here as regular me with no entertainment experience, then I would not be as popular as I am today with the public.

Q: How do you react to a director like Anees Bazmi saying he wouldn’t want to work with you as he has a family audience to consider?

I have no idea what this is all about. But I am very lucky that there are plenty of people that want to work with me.

Q: What are your immediate plans in Bollywood?

I am starting a new project at the moment. I am in Hindi dialogue lessons and I don’t thing that will ever end. My plan as always is to not plan and just keep working hard, like every project could be my last and give it my all.

Q: Is it true your husband Daniel is also seeking a career in Bollywood?

My husband is entertaining several opportunities and for information you’ll have to ask him.

Q: Women and children  in India have lately been subjected to unprecedented violence and brutality. How do you react to the perception that the commodification of women in the glamour industry is a major cause for provoking crime against women?

Well, what has been going on is not something that just stared recently. But what has now started is that the media is being tuned into what has been going on for decades and finally bringing light to these horrible psychotic events. Its not an industry that makes people do things, it’s an individual and that individual needs help. These things happen all over the world at every minute of the day. The entertainment industry cannot be blamed. It’s fiction meaning make-believe.

READ NEXT: 4 love affairs of Sunny Leone

89 COMMENTS

  1. You are who u are Sunny
    …… don’t listen to all this negative peoples .. chase your dreams and hit it … I admired you for your honesty and boldness …. We are all with you ….

  2. Sunny leone i m bip fan of urs i love ur charm n cuteness.u r so sweet n i love ur features spcly ur eyes

  3. Really?? how some of you can support her? just think about it more. what is wrong with you? where is our culture? what are we now? please just think how do you want to live like this? it’s not late to change.throw away these shits, we can’t support someone who is a dirty creature not a human,she is destroying our culture, our rules, and with your support you are helping her. please wake up.

  4. FOR LADIES WHO COMMENTED HERE.. DONT SUPPORT HER BECAUSE SHE IS A LADY.. YOUR ASHAMED AND THATS WHY YOU PPL SUPPORTING HER. WHO SAID THAT ITS 2014 AND NOT 1925? IF YOU GO FAR AWAY MILLION YEARS AGO, THERE WAS LIKE ONLY 2 PPL ADAM & EVE.. SO WE ARE ALL BASTARDS RITE? FUCKING WITH BROTHERS AND SISTERS? BUILDING CULTURE IS A GREAT THING.. BUT FUCKING UP WITH IT ITS VERY EASY LIKE YOU SUPPORTING HER. INDIA IS KNOWS FOR RELIGIOUS AND CULTURE NOW ITS ALL GONE. JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DONT SUPPORT HER.

    • She is professional actress n gud dancer.
      So many gls gone crazy on her dance. In fact in marriages n parties select her dance perfomance
      ‘YEH DUNIYA PITTAL DI’

  5. 98% of the horrible comments are from MEN. Blame the women for corruption. Stop the abuses. Our Country should follow Dubai. Where Women can wear Bikini, Men are forbidden to abuse in public, stare directly at Arab women & Capital Punishment Death for Rape instantly. What she did was her profession in Canada. Don’t be judgmental, look at your self first before pointing fingers. In America if you were to call an escort a Bitch she could sue you and win the case. The work she does is for her living it does not give any person the right to criticize another person coz of his strong point of view & backgrounds. You should respect the persons job…..

  6. Whatever these girls do for there profession, its there choice we are no body to say anything to them and to interfair in there personal life. Example if a girl move on road as in bikni,nude,in short its there choice there is no rule that they cant in that way as police also cant say anything that why they are in bikni….

  7. sunny leone will go in hell after her death, and then she will cry that may i didn,t do that, lanat hai be shumaar esi females pe jinho ne apne jism ko apni job bna lia hai

  8. Hey sunny.Ur pretty .y do u HV to do all this dirty stuff.n guys plz stop fighting u all India n Pakistan etc…anyway m husband loves u he thinks Ur hot wants me to b like u wic is impossible.ha ha ha.but Ur really bold.. keep it up so DAT these orthodox men get more cranky

  9. what has got to our indian minds? ehy r we support ing the girls like malika poonam panday and now this rand who drink cum n piss believe me or not they r being psid through our pockets

  10. I wonder whether she does double with both her husband and brother together…lol

    Though i m an Indian , i can still say..India has doomed.I am really ashamed of it.

    Better to go to pakistan or afganistan….

  11. With due respect to everyone no offence to anyone! We as Indians take pride in honouring many things which are very decent and digitable. Oftenly we start blaming West for the nudity and crime in india. Okay was nudity never a part of indian culture? If not then were kamasutra come from…known for best postions of sex….were does Khujrao come from…where three men holding a women in a manner which can make a anyperson in world would blush!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here