Sonu Sood
He made a rather slow entry into Bollywood with Aashiq Banaya Aapne but Sood is in his happy space now. The versatile actors says he enjoyed playing the role of Dilawar Imtiaz in his latest film, Shootout At Wadala. Sangeeta Yadav chats him
‘liked dressing up as Dawood’
Tell us about the controversy over the name changeIJ
The transformation from Dawood Ibrahim to Dilawar Imtiaz Haskar took place because we wanted to use our creative liberty in the adaptation of Hussain Zaidi’s Mumbai to Dongri. During the course of shooting we added a lot of scenes that were fictional. Zaidi was very clear when he gave us rights for this film that we either stick to his story word by word or change the name of the characters. That’s Sanjay Gupta decided to change the name. We didn’t want to get involved in a controversy.
How was your experience of shooting in DongriIJ
It was all quite good. When I first dressed up as Dawood, I was welcomed with whistles and cat calls. People loved my avatar. We were taken good care of. Even had a blast during Ramzan!
What are your favourite moments from the filmIJ
When I was a child, my father had this shirt that I really liked and I wished to wear that some day. But that never happened. In Shootout… I had to don a retro look and wear bell bottom jeans and check shirts. I was reminded of my childhood and the fun times spent with my father.
What is you role in Ramiya Vastavaiya all aboutIJ
I’m playing the role of a possessive elder brother to Sona (Shruti Hasan). He stalks his sister around and doesn’t allow her any freedom at all It’s a Prabhu Deva film and I’m really excited.
Are you a possessive brother in real life tooIJ
Yes, I love my sisters and always keep in touch with them. My elder sister is a scientist in the US and the other one is in Punjab. All three of us get along very well.
How are you managing your personal and professional lifeIJ
It’s always difficult for an actor to maintain a balance. With so many projects, I somehow manage to take out time for my family.
My wife and son sometimes join me on the sets. Summer vacations are about to start and my family may join me on the shoots of my upcoming movie. I like it when they are around I have a very simple rule — when you are working, you should concentrate hard and when you are not working, nothing should come in between family time.