‘Daniel might act if his dialogues are in English’

Actor Sunny Leone is the latest celebrity to join the league of stars who front their home ventures — her company is producing its first Bollywood feature film. “We’ll be doing our first Hindi film and I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be a part of the project,” she says.

Besides films and TV projects, Sunny also has her own beauty and production business. Plus, she is a handson mother to three children — toddler daughter Nisha, and infant sons Asher and Noah. That’s a lot of hats to juggle, and Sunny shares that her husband and business partner, Daniel Weber, supports her at every step.

That begs the question if Daniel, with his substantial female fan following, might consider acting. “I think girls love him. He actually loves the business side of things more than [being] in front of the camera,” says Sunny, explaining how Daniel views acting: “His philosophies regarding acting are hilarious. I think he’d be open to acting if his parts were in English.”

About her new venture, the Hindi film, a source close to the actor shares, “Pre-production work and casting are in full swing.” But details aren’t available yet. Sunny says, “We’re working on the formalities. We’ll start shooting for the film late this year or early next year.”

Meanwhile, the actor recently released the second season of a web series based on her life, and shot for a dance number in Arjun Patiala (starring Kriti Sanon and Diljit Dosanjh). In her last few films — with A-listers such as Shah Rukh Khan (Raees; 2017), Ajay Devgn (Baadshaho; 2017), and Sanjay Dutt (Bhoomi; 2017) — Sunny only had dance numbers. Are meaty film roles still not coming her way? “I think I’m going to show my web series as my audition tapes — I’m quite happy how both [the seasons] have turned out,” she says. “Everything takes time. I love everything I’ve done. It was amazing to do these songs; else I wouldn’t have done them.” Bollywood and songand-dance go hand in hand, says Sunny. “I’ve also watched [dance numbers] while growing up. I was never told by my parents to change the channel because ‘these are bad and I can’t watch them’. I never felt that way about dance numbers either. Most people in India are like me. Only a handful of people react differently,” she says.

Happy as she is to go with the Bollywood flow and to build her business, Sunny would love it if one wish comes true — a film with Aamir Khan, who had said earlier that he’d be happy to do a film with her. She says, “I’m looking forward to when that happens. It would be the most amazing thing ever. I did meet him a few times and we were cordial, but nothing concrete happened. But it was really kind and nice of him to say it for me, and that’s the memory I want to keep (smiles).”

I think I’m going to show my web series as my audition tapes — I’m quite happy how both [the seasons] have turned out.

SUNNY LEONE, ACTOR

PHOTO: RAAJESSH KASHYAP/HT