Everybody has a struggle of their own, a war to fight and in the process we all tend to hide the many skeletons of our past in the closet. The deepest and darkest secrets threaten to come out every now and then and ruin what we’ve built for ourselves. But for the former adult star and now Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, it was a tad different. She rose to fame and recognition when she chose to bare it all to the audience. Her story managed to strike a chord in the hearts and minds of many Indians, who previously happened to take her name behind closed doors. While the many Bollywood movies she has acted in couldn’t really establish her as an actress in the industry, the recent web series, a biopic called Karenjit Kaur—The Untold Story of Sunny Leone is breaking the internet and how. The 1st season of the series showed a strong willed but naïve Karenjit, the daughter of a conservative Sikh NRI family settled in Canada. As the episodes unfolded, they helped the audience to have an understanding of how her family and her childhood were and who really was Karenjit before she took the adult industry by storm being Sunny Leone. Ahead of the launch of the 2nd season on ZEE5, Sunny spoke about her experience of shooting for the biopic series, life after children, her upcoming projects and more.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Sunny who came up with the idea of the biopic as many might believe. “The producers and the makers approached my husband Daniel with the idea. Initially I was very apprehensive about this because previously I had shot a documentary and it did not go well and I thought to myself that this too might go down the same path. But what made me say yes to the project was the fact that they wanted to show my real story with my childhood, family, relationships, everything,” explains Sunny.
Wasn’t reliving “everything” difficult emotionally for the actress? The 1st season, as fans will recollect, drew to a close at the crucial juncture of Sunny’s love life. Premiering on September 18, the new season will reveal more about this guarded part of her life. Shooting the second season has been emotionally challenging one for Sunny as she will be reliving moments like losing her parents.
“I would cry every single day on the sets, it was embarrassing. It was very difficult, wasn’t easy at all. I didn’t think it would be this hard though. I still can’t watch the trailer as I would start crying. There are so many conversations and dialogues that are real. The very dialogues that I had with my parents are here. There was some dubbing left and I was beyond petrified to go over them again and again, it’s always difficult when you lose your parents in a young age. You don’t get over something like that. It was like opening a Pandora’s box.” shares Sunny.
Well, the Pandora’s box surely could have been modified, censored and tailored to the likings of Sunny and the makers, but the actress insisted the real story be told. “For me it was very important for the story to be as real as possible. I don’t know how else to actually let the audience know me if not like this. The writers, directors and the producers were probably pulling their hair out because I would always be nagging them about certain things that I wanted to be the way they really happened. Sure, if it was fiction it would have been so much easier, but this was my life, this is how it all happened. I think I was lucky to have the directors and the producers be so jaded that nothing really affects them anymore, they made me feel comfortable, every single person on the sets was so sensitive, and that helped me to keep it real,” states Sunny.
Sunny is overwhelmed with the response her web series has got and she definitely sees a shift in perception. “I am glad that through this series, my fans know me for the person I am and not just the persona that you see. It was thrilling to see the heart-warming response and I really believe that the exposure to the digital platform has widened the perception of the viewers. The fact that they get to see a whole lot of things from different parts of the world had made a shift in the thought processes,” says Sunny.
Speak of children to this beauty and she would get teary eyed in no time. “Life after children is completely different but I would say that this definitely is the best chapter of my life. Nisha is a smart kid; she has this ability to attract attention towards her. We recently celebrated Ganapathy and it was so endearing to see her putting tikas on us. I always wanted to adopt and when I said this to my husband, he agreed immediately. I am so lucky to have a life partner who supports my wish of having a child that is not biologically ours. The boys are seven now and they are super adorable,” exclaims the elated mother.
The actress is juggling a lot of things in her life which includes her own cosmetic line. But what everyone wants to know is when her fans get to see her in a Bollywood flick. “The production house that me and my husband own will be starting our first production on a Bollywood film by the end of this year, I am very excited because it’s a fictional story and not real, thank god for that!” laughs Sunny.
