Sunny Leone

‘Sex is not a bad thing'

Adult film star-turned-actress Sunny Leone is visibly excited about her Hindi cinema debut. She discusses ‘Jism 2’, her character, and herself in an exclusive uncensored chat with Ankita Kanabar

(This interview happened and was published before the release of 'Jism 2')

Sunny Leone is in town to set temperatures soaring as she promotes ‘Jism 2.’ She took time out for a chat as we travelled with her to her hotel. En route, she spotted a huge hoarding of ‘Jism 2’ and flashed a giant smile. “I don’t really know how to feel. All this is so new for me. I’d never thought someday I’d see myself like this, on these huge posters, as I travel. I’ve always desired to be a part of Hindi films but I never thought it could happen. I guess I feel really good,” she says.

We inform her that the promos of her film are a rage already and that the music has made it to popular radio countdowns. “These are just the promos. I want people to see the film and like the film. I hope they do,” says Sunny.

Interestingly, Sunny’s character in the film, Izna, is also an adult film star like Sunny herself. However, she claims the similarities end there. “The film is the journey of a girl struggling with love. We all have a past; the movie looks at how you react when your past comes in front of you. She struggles; she innocently gets trapped in all the chaos created by Arunoday and Randeep’s characters,” Sunny explains. She adds, “Izna is really different from me. I’ve never met a girl like her in my life. She’s a character created in the beautiful mind of Mr Mahesh Bhatt.”

We ask her about her experience working with co-stars Arunoday Singh and Randeep Hooda. “Arunoday is a lot of fun. He always makes you laugh and keeps the atmosphere light on the sets. So, we share a very friendly bonding. Randeep, on the other hand, is very serious. He’s always into his character while the rest of us were serious only when the shot was taken. Randeep hasn’t shot many lovemaking scenes in his earlier films, so he could be a little apprehensive, but I think, we were comfortable,” she says with a smile.

Since she introduced the topic of lovemaking scenes, we dive right in asking her how that went. She laughs and says, “You know the only difference is that here it was all choreographed: the hand should go like this and all. In the films that I shoot, we film an hour of lovemaking scenes and then edit and use the parts of the shot we liked. In Hindi films, we try to make the director’s vision come true. Pooja (Bhatt) had a vision of how she wanted it. We were working towards making her happy and making it look good. A lot of detailing is needed here.”

The debutante is also all praise for director Pooja Bhatt. “Pooja and Dino Morea have worked 24 hours each day on this film. I’ve learnt so much from Pooja, so many details, like when to blink or not. It has been an enriching experience,” she claims. Well, that certainly puts media rumors of a tiff between Sunny and Pooja to rest.

Although Sunny doesn’t feel that the film is too bold, the Censor Board obviously doesn’t agree. Of course this relatively uninhibited take on sex is still new to Hindi cinema “You know, cinema is changing now. Cinema keeps changing and will continue to do so. We need to accept that change. Things you see now on TV are different from what you saw 10 years ago. Change is inevitable, or else we wouldn’t learn. And sex is not a bad thing. It’s what culminates among two people who are truly, madly, deeply, in love. It’s something beautiful that people do that results in beautiful babies,” she says with a smile. 

While she prepares to steam up Indian screens, it is endearing to discover that Sunny considers herself a nerd. “I’m such a nerd. I always carry books to read. When we were on a flight for the shoot, I was making a scarf and everyone in the crew was laughing at me. Then I decided not to do it in front of them (laughs). I love dogs. I keep adopting dogs, and urge people to do so. I love spending time with my husband. We go surfing and all. But you must ask my husband how I am as a person.” And before we can digest that piece of information, she calls her husband Daniel Weber over and has him speak to us. He says, “You know the best thing about Sunny is she is always so cute. If I’m stressed or have any problem and I talk to her, I can’t help but feel good. She’s so positive.”

Well, India will be able to make up its own mind on Sunny because ‘Jism 2’ is definitely not Sunny’s only foray into Hindi cinema. She confirms that she will soon begin shooting for Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Ragini MMS.’