‘I want to do movies that take me a step ahead’

Back from shooting a Hollywood film with Jackie Chan, Sonu Sood is charged about the new phase in his career

This year, Sonu Sood was seen in of the biggest movies of his career — Happy New Year (going strictly by its scale). However, it was his role as the villainous Chedi Singh in Dabangg that marked the turnaround in Sonu’s cinematic fortunes. Even as he made his mark in pivotal roles in Hindi films, his work in the South movie industry took off as well. But after HNY, Sonu hasn’t signed any other films.

The actor — who spends more time in the gym than in gossiping about his industry colleagues — explains, “ I got more than 15 offers from big production houses but somehow, I wasn’t convinced. When you do a movie like Happy New Year, the next film you expect to do should be a step ahead.”

As luck would have it, Sonu did get an offer he couldn’t refuse and it is sure to take his career several steps ahead — a Hollywood action-comedy called Kung Fu Yoga starring Jackie Chan, and directed by Stanley Tong. After two months of shooting with Chan in Dubai, Sonu is back in India.

“Jackie is the most grounded actor I have come across,” Sonu tells us of the experience. “He used to pick up bottles from the set and put them in the garbage. Once Jackie is on the sets, he is always on his feet and all he is trying to do is shoot the best possible scenes. He is a living legend and when you work with him and see him putting in so much effort, it’s very inspiring. When you work with someone of that league, you learn to stay grounded.”

Sonu and Jackie worked out together, with the latter teaching Sonu some Kung Fu moves! Was Sonu at all star-struck “Not really, but all those memories of collecting Jackie’s DVDs and movie posters were refreshed,” he tells us, with a smile. “It is a nice feeling to think that I’ll be on the same movie poster as him!” He draws parallels between Jackie’s personality and that of Shah Rukh Khan: “There are a lot of similarities between SRK and Jackie. They both are always running around the set, working really hard to make the film look the best. They are always thinking about the film. Once Jackie was on the set, I hardly saw him sitting down. Till you don’t love your craft (as much), you can never be successful.”

Now that he is back in India, Sonu tells us that he considering a few interesting offers, and among the directors he would love to work with in the future are Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. “They have a fantastic vision and are also great technicians,” says Sonu. Despite the long and accomplished journey Sonu has had in showbusiness, the actor has stayed in touch with his roots. He hails from a small town in Punjab, Moga, and makes it a point to visit whenever he has free time (he has a weeklong trip planned, just a few days after our chat). “These are the people who inspired me to dream and I can’t leave them because some of those dreams have been achieved. These are the people I connect with and they keep me grounded.” When his mother was alive, she was among the people who kept Sonu focused on what’s truly important; having passed away seven years ago, her’s is a presence Sonu confesses to still missing terribly.

“I really miss her every day and every time I sign a movie or shoot with a big actor, I wish my mom was here,” he says. “She always had more confidence in me than I had. She would tell me that one day I will make it I am one of the many millions who come to Mumbai for work but her blessings made it (success) possible for me.”