I connect a lot with Indore, says actor Sonu Sood

Actor Sonu Sood, who was recently seen in Happy New Year, visited Indore on Thursday. In a tête-à-tête with HT, the actor talks about not being a part of Dabangg 2 and his childhood memories of Indore.

Actor Sonu Sood, who was recently seen in a comic role in Happy New Year, visited Indore on Thursday to promote a personal care brand for men. In a tête-à-tête with HT, the actor talks about not being a part of Dabangg 2 and his childhood memories of Indore.

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You were offered Dabangg 2 and Salman Khan wanted you to be a part of the film. What stopped you from signing such a big project?
I was offered the film and I was a part of script narration too but I wasn’t happy with the role. So, I refused. If I don’t find a role appealing, I say no to it. I get calls from filmmakers offering me roles. I give them an instant reply whether I want to do the film or not. I believe it’s very important to be true to your filmmakers.

Was it difficult saying no to such a big film and a production house?
No, not at all. Salman (Khan) appreciated me for being honest. I am friends with him. He is like a family member to me.

Happy New Year was a big project and is one of the highest grossing films of the year so far. Do you think the film will be considered as a benchmark in your career?
Yes, of course. The film opened a lot of gates for me. It portrayed me as an actor who could do dance and comedy as well. It was a very positive role unlike majority of my characters. I was happy to get noticed in such an ensemble cast.

A character often remains with actors for long. Sometimes people refer to actors with their character names. Which role do you relate to the most?
I enjoyed the role of Jag in Happy New Year. It was fun dancing and doing comedy. Cheddi Singh in Dabangg was really good. A lot of traits of the character matched with one of my friends from college. I gave inputs for the character. I insisted to add comedy and Arbaaz (Khan) and Abhinav (Kashyap) were happy but it was little difficult to convince Salman (Khan) that the character will have shades of comedy. Later, when he saw the film, he was the first guy to tell me that my choice was good.

What are you working on these days?
I have been travelling a lot. I was in Punjab with my family for ten days. I have heard two Hindi scripts but nothing has been finalised yet. After Happy New Year, it’s a big responsibility to live up to the expectations of people. I will have to be very careful while choosing my next film. I used to tell this to Shahrukh (Khan) as well.

You seem to have a special connection with Telugu cinema.
I started my career with films down South and did a lot of films in Telugu. I still work in two such films a year if not more. In all these years, I have been appreciated for my work. I don’t want to leave that industry as I have thoroughly enjoyed being there.

What major difference do you see between the two industries?
I think filmmakers down South were really disciplined 5 to 6 years ago. But now most of the technicians are working down South and vice versa. I think now, all the industries are on the same platform, only the language is different.

How does it feel coming back to Indore?
I have always loved coming here. I connect with this city a lot. I have spent my childhood here. My cousins and relatives live here and there are a lot of memories attached with this city. Indore has changed quite a lot, especially the infrastructure as new buildings and malls are coming up.