Sunil Shetty - The Godfather

By Fuad Omar.

I call Sunil Shetty the Godfather because like the on-screen incarnation he has a tough image, but wants nothing more than to look after his family. Don Vito Corleone is a ficitionalised gangster, but Sunil is a non-violent reality, hence the title.

Many images come to mind when thinking of this gentle giant: be it the action man of Mohra or the light relief in Gopi Kishan and Hera Pheri, Sunil has become a jack of all trades since he began rounding up his backlog of movies and escaped the action man mould he was labelled with earlier in his career. Many years have passed and he's now ventured into restaurants (Thai Me Up), hotels, water parks (H2O), fashion (Mischief) and more recently entertainment (Popcorn). Be it films or business, no one can fault Sunil's confidence and daring attitude to be different, and that too with an eye on what his fans want.

I meet Sunil in Juhu, Mumbai on the sets of Anees Bazmee's Radhshyam Sitaram in which he has a double role with Aishwarya Rai as his leading lady. The interior of the sets is made up to be a villain's den like something straight out of a 70s Amitabh movie, complete with rocky walls that resemble the batcave and water flowing behind, and evil henchman ready with guns to shoot trespassers or dance at the drop of a note. I spot Sharad Kapoor in the back who gives a warm wave, and Aishwarya practises her dance moves. Sunil sports a small moustache and goatee beard as he greets me with the warm handshake with hands so big mine dwarf in comparison. I spot Athiya and Ahaan his two children, running around playing with some other kids and some fans who have stumbled onto the set watching their hero in awe.

During a break we sit and chat about all things Sunil. From first films and first failures to fatherhood and future releases.

As the busy bustling of a set goes on around us and fans crowd the area, we begin the interview at the beginning, and I ask how he feels given he's about to have a few releases, and how it compares to how he felt when his first film Balwaan was released in 1993.

"I felt very nervous when Balwaan released," he says going into interview mode, trying to shut off everything else around him as I hope the background noise isn't going to totally drown out my interview.
"But at the same time I was very aware after the very first day of the shoot that I was in an industry that was going to be very tough. Before you enter this place everything seems very easy but once you start working you realise it's one of the toughest things to do."

I mention how through my discussions with many wannabe actors the impression is that this is an easy job. I've just about managed to dispel the thought that being an actor or actress you actually get free time which is a myth, but people still get the impression acting is easy as pie. It's all about shouting, singing and dancing, isn't that right Sunil?
"It's all about confidence, it's all about learning and a step by step process or movement. At the time of Balwaan I was on a high because I had signed plenty of films, and Balwaan was a successful film, in fact one of the best action films of that time, but I got written off. They (the press) said I couldn't make it as an actor, that I was a very bad actor and everything about me was bad, and I took that up as a challenge. All that the critics told me, I worked on. Whatever was my strong point like action, I didn't work on as much, even though I kept on doing the daredevil stunts to get more work. Along the way I started learning and I've come a long way today," he says turning his head slightly to check on his kids.

He eyes some fans who I could swear are from London given I heard someone shout 'there's Ash' in a typical British accent earlier. A girl wearing a tank top and jeans smiles at him and the others try to edge forward a little, attempting to get closer to their real life action hero. Sunil gives them a slight wave, and they know he'll make time for them after the interview. He turns back to me and as says:
"I'm happy with the way I'm doing and the way my career's shaping up, and more-so now because I had a great year last year with different kinds of films from comedy to romance to action. I think this year has been and will be better because it's all really well planned with a phenomenal list of line ups."

So no more sleepless nights worrying how your next release is going to fare, I wonder. No more nerves twisting around inside saying 'what if it doesn't do well'?
"I do get nervous, definitely, and not only at the release of a film. Even if I have a major dance sequence or a major scene to perform I get sleepless nights, but I'm happy because that is a nervous energy that keeps me going and reminds me of how serious I should be about my work," he says before asking if I want anything to eat or drink.

Sunil's recent films over the last year have got him the wide acceptance critics feared. They said he was everything from too dark to not able to act to be in films, but the promise shown in Balwaan and Mohra that led to Dhadkan, Hera Pheri and more recently Pyaar Ishq aur Mohabbat silenced the naysayers. But being a newcomer it must've irked him to have such negative comments about him circulating, didn't he feel disillusioned with the industry given it was verbally destructing and dissecting him all the time in print alongside the media?
"I was but at the same time I knew I wasn't ready and I had jumped into something before I had prepared. In any profession you better be ready before you get into anything, and I wasn't. I only believe that God's been kind to me, gave me a hell of a lot of work at that time and I believe my discipline and my sincerity worked. I love my work like I would my own child and hard work pays off so today I'm working with the best of banners and doing the biggest of films. It's all a learning process."

Bollywood has taken off big time in recent years. We've seen the launch of new blood in the industry with the likes of Hrithik, Abhishek, Karan Nath, the Tum Bin team and Tusshar Kapoor - some have clicked others haven't. But these have spurned Bollywood wannabe's everywhere including in the UK, so what advice would he give a newcomer coming into the industry?
Sunil scratches his false beard and looks lost in thought for a second. Then he leans forward and says:
"For a newcomer he has to be prepared. He has to be mentally, physically and emotionally extremely strong. I'd recommend taking on the minimum amount of films because it's a mistake I made. Before I had my first release I had signed on forty films, and because the first one worked I had to complete those forty films and it took me eight years to get over with it all. The good and bad, sometimes really bad films and twenty two or three new directors, I don't think any actor has launched twenty three new directors which should have taken me absolutely downhill, but like I said I've been fortunate because of my sincerity and I survived through all that. And hence it's been a year now, the beginning of last year and this, I've been planning and thinking and working really hard. So I guess, planning and being strong in every way is very important for a newcomer."

My friend sitting across from us nods his head. Sitting with another journalist he has just spent the twenty minutes before the interview listening attentively to Sunil's advice and sermon on what to be ready for when he enters the industry. The big man with the bigger heart is all ears to anyone who wants to learn from his mistakes and he gives my friend a nod, and I wait a second before asking him my next question.

I ask Sunil what his favourite films are and if there have been any films he would have loved to be a part of. Undoubtedly Sunil is offered many films, but are there any he wished he had done or had the chance to do?
"Well I guess if there's a film I'd want to be a part of in any way it would be Sholay," he says almost immediately.
"I'd say that is the ultimate complete film because every character in that movie even if it was Dhanu, the horse, it worked. Even if it was that little ant that was creeping up Amjad-Bhai's hand and signified the death of Sachin, it made sense. So I'd consider Sholay such a complete film I wish I could have been a part of that. Another one I'd say is close to my heart is Sharaabi, because of the kind of character Mr Bachchan played in that film. He was rich but spent more time with the poor, he loved his father but hated him too, he was smiling to the world but crying within and it was just a brilliant character assayed by Mr Bachchan. And there are a few other landmark films like Padosan and Mother India with key roles, which one would want to see oneself in, they'd be dream roles to be in those films."

I ask if the Big B is a hero of sorts to him and who he'd consider his inspiration given that he inspires others on a daily basis.
"Mr Bachchan definitely. If you mean someone in the film world my inspiration is Mr Bachchan and if it's off screen it's my father and only my father."

He doesn't even need to think. The two worlds of work and home to him are entirely separate realms and each have their idols to him. Having seen his kids running around and laughing and his constant monitoring to check if they're alright, I sneak a peek at the family side to the hard man of Hindi cinema and ask how important his family life is to him. I stumble across what is the essence of Sunil Shetty, and it is his family. He dotes on his wife Mana, his children and his parents. That's his world and he makes it clear nothing is more important to him than his family.

"My parents don't live with me, but I live with them," he says stressing the point that his choice is to never move away from those who have raised, nurtured and made him who he is today.
"I live with my parents and that's the biggest high for me and for my kids. It's the best upbringing I could ever give my children, because I've had a great life, my parents spent so much quality time with me that if I want to be a child all over again it's to re-live those moments. If I can give my kids ten percent of what my parents gave me as a child then I can be one of the best father's there is."

He speaks eyeing his children once more, and his voice has such a sincere tone to it that when he says this with intense eyes, you realise how much the big guy is like a huge teddy bear. Sentimental and warm inside due to the big heart he has inside him. More than the hero to millions he is his parents' son and that will always be his biggest responsibility, then his role as a husband and as a father. See Sunil with kids and you'll understand. After all this is the guy who bought his wife a BMW which to him stood for 'Be My Wife'.

His entrepreneurial skills have meant many successful ventures for the actor. Everyone knew about Mischief, his boutique and it's junior branch, but recently he used his acumen to open a water park aptly titled H2O, a Thai food restaurant called Thai Me Up and an entertainment company with as witty a name as his other businesses. If he hadn't been an actor I don't even need to ask what he'd be, a self made successful businessman.

"This is the first time I'm concentrating on my businesses too, for the past four or five years I've concentrated more on my career and my businesses took a back seat. This year I've launched a company called Popcorn Entertainment under which the first indoor cricket academy in the country is been launched and with major facilities for its kind. I want to expand Mischief as well as my restaurant, and if things work out they could be opening near you soon."

As he's mentioned London I ask what he thinks of the place given he's always shooting here or making appearances much to his fans' joy.
"If there's one place in the world I'd want to settle other than Bombay it's definitely London. I had a great time shooting there be it for Pyaar Ishq aur Mohabbat or Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi or whatever, and the British Film Commission also encourages Indian films to shoot there and I'm looking forward to coming there again."

As the conversation is now steering itself in all the right directions, we move onto his films. He's already given two average-farers in Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi and Pyaar Ishq aur Mohabbat, so what else can fans look forward to.
"I have Mahesh Manjrekar's Ehsaas, a film close to my heart, I have Priyadarshan's Yeh Tera Ghar Mera Ghar, Kundan Shah's Kasam Se, another Priyadarshan film called Kashma Kash and a Tinnu Anand film called Ek Hindustani so it's all good work," he says smiling.

"Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke with Ash should release this year too, hopefully, and this film is called Radheshyam Sitaram again with Ash so there'll be two with her coming up."

As if on cue Aishwarya comes out of her trailer and heads into the studio, with a few assistants keeping her clothes from dragging on the ground and leading Sunil's fans to be distracted for a moment as they watch her glide pass them with a smile.
Sunil reflects on where he is today, a successful businessman and actor who is winning awards and has fought to be in his position. "I'm more than happy and at the same time very aware I had to work towards this success. Luck is very important, and for me the only thing that is going to pay off is hard work and hence I have to keep working with the right scripts, directors and projects."

He seems tired but at peace. The shoot started at 7am and it's not going to finish until at least 7pm, and that too on a Sunday. I know Sunil doesn't usually work Sundays but this is a long in the making film he wants to be released as quickly as possible and so makes sacrifices to suit the director and crew. One thing about him is that he's hardly like the action man image he's given and is more a family oriented fun guy. I make my observation aloud and he agrees, tying my point in with some of his forthcoming films.

"In real life I'm very fun loving and so I love doing comedies. My friends are all my childhood buddies who go a long way back, and if they want me around at any event or function it's because I'm always joking around and having a laugh! And if I can make a few people laugh on screen I think it's a great achievement, so let's hope that happens with Yeh Tera Ghar Mera Ghar and Kasam Se which are both comedies."

As the next shot is readied I spot the fans getting more eager to just speak to their hero before he's called in for the song and dance sequence, and so I wrap up by asking him what he'd like to say to his fans reading on Asiangigs, and indeed across the world, who are clearly a big part of his strength and mean a lot to him.
"I'd like to thank them for their love and support and give them a promise that I'll be doing much better films. I know I've done a lot of trashy films that are all bang-bang and no sense, but that's what sold back then and it's a different game now. I can choose and am being extremely choosy about my films, especially the scripts, and so feel I have a perfect blend of films including big ones like Kaante and Line of Control. I have an out and out comedy with Yeh Tera Ghar Mera Ghar, I have emotion with Kasam Se which is a story about a widowed father which I play with his little boy, and there's a lot of variety in store for them in the near future. Thank you for all your support, I won't let you down."