Sonu Sood is one of those actors who has established himself in different languages. Starting his Bollywood career in 1999, he made a mark with his performances in Yuva, Jodha Akbar and more recently in Dabangg. Always looking to experiment as an actor, he also found success in Tollywood with movies like Super, Athadu and Arundhati. Sonu was also part of the recently released Bhai with Nagarjuna. Last seen in Prabhu Dheva’s Ramaiya Vastavaiya, the 40-year-old is excited about his role in the upcoming R...Rajkumar.He tells us more.
On R...Rajkumar
I play Shriraj, who is a highly emotional character. He can sing, he can dance, he can romance and he can fight. It’s a character which everyone can relate to. It has negative shades as well, but there’s a lot more to him.
Journey so far
I am not from the industry, so it was has been a tough journey. I think it is always tough as an outsider to survive in the industry but I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some great directors and some great movies in different languages. It all boils down to a lot of hard work. I never stopped believing and am happy with where I am right now.
Hyderabadi Connect
I have always enjoyed coming to Hyderabad. It is like my second home. In fact, I have such a close connect with the city that I miss it when I’m away. I’ve learnt everything about cinema in Hyderabad and have enjoyed my Tollywood experience. It is great fun working in Telugu movies and I’m looking forward to doing more films. There are a couple of Tollywood movies which have been offered to me but I have not signed anything yet.
Playing the baddie
I like all kinds of roles, though I prefer one which has a few shades of grey. It is not very difficult to play a villain. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoy whatever role I am playing, not just villaneous ones. I like to play comic roles too.
On item songs
The item songs that I have been a part of have been really successful. ‘Munni Badnaam’ from Dabangg was a huge hit and ‘Kaddu Katega’ from R...Rajkumar has received terrific response. I do think that these item songs add to the essence of the movies, especially in India where people love to see such entertaining dance numbers.
Reality shows
Reality shows are not my cup of tea. They are very entertaining shows and I watch them sometimes, but they are really not my cup of tea. I do not enjoy doing such shows. Personally, though I feel these shows have a lot of entertainment value and people enjoy watching them, I cannot picture myself being part of them.
His favourites
It’s hard to say really. In terms of co-stars, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the big names of this industry. They have all been really nice to me. I must say it was great working with Shahrukh Khan. Salman was wonderful too. As for movies, I enjoyed my roles as Pasupati in Arundhati and Sonu in Super in Tollywood. In Bollywood, I loved playing the bad guy in Dabangg and my latest performance in R...Rajkumar. These are all special to me. I like doing action and comedy movies in particular.
In the pipeline
I have It’s Entertainment coming up with Akshay Kumar, along with Happy New Year with Shahrukh Khan. I’m really excited about both these movies.
R..Rajkumar hits theatres on December 6.