Sunny Deol’s performance in Ghayal (1990) was a box-office smash and it won him the National Award as well. Twenty-five years later, he returns with a sequel, Ghayal Once Again, produced and directed by him. Sunny has cast four youngsters in the film.
Does Ghayal Once Again take forward the story of the original Ghayal?
I was young when I did Ghayal. The film was about the character Ajay Mehra, his family and his problems. In Ghayal Once Again, we tried our best to depict the situation today.
Earlier the film was titled Ghayal Returns, but later its title was changed. Why?
Usually people add ‘Part Two’ or ‘Returns’ to a film’s title when they make a sequel. The Ghayal of 1990 has come again. Hence the title. Production is tough and it’s an added responsibility to be a director as well as an actor. I am very happy with my film. What we had originally thought has been translated onscreen.
You were one of the original action stars. What do you think of action in Bollywood today?
Today, I see people doing the kind of action which I’ve done several times. Perhaps I was the one who started it by mistake and I need to stop it now (laughs). Everyone is trying to get louder and louder. So for Ghayal Once Again, I hunted around. I liked Dan Bradley on the basis of the films he’s done. It was a great pleasure to work with him because he’s genuinely a creative person. It is because of him and our concept that we have been able to present reality as accurately as possible.