Deol rises again as one-man army

Kicking off SDGM’s shoot, director Malineni says film will see Sunny in all-out action avatar as he plays a common man fighting the system; movie inspired by true events

When you’re on a hot streak, charge ahead. That’s what Sunny Deol has been doing since the mammoth success of Gadar 2: The Katha Continues (2023). Soon after wrapping up the shoot of Lahore 1947, the actor has dived into the world of Telugu film director Gopichand Malineni’s next, the working title of which is SDGM. On June 22, the actor kicked off the shoot in Hyderabad where production designer Avinash Kolla built a part of a village set to shoot the leading man’s introduction sequence. 

Regina Cassandra and (right) Saiyami Kher also star in the movie

Coming off two hits in Krack (2021) and Veera Simha Reddy (2023), Malineni has designed a massive action entertainer for his maiden Hindi offering. Though Deol built his career largely as an action hero, the director is confident that his film will showcase a new facet of the actor. “I’ll present him in a never-before-seen action avatar. After Gadar 2 released, I narrated the story to Sunny sir. He said yes immediately, adding that he was looking for this kind of a role. Sunny sir doesn’t play a man in uniform. While it is the story of a common man who takes on [the system] to fight for what is right, it is an unusual concept. The story is inspired from various real-life incidents, which people will [understand] when they watch the movie,” says the director. The Hindi movie will be dubbed in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil.  

Gopichand Malineni on the first day of shoot in Hyderabad 

Malineni’s filmography proves that he has a firm grip over action movies. He is eager to up the ante as he teams up with Deol. He shares, “There are strong action set-pieces in this movie. That’s why we have signed three action directors. Most of the stunts are raw and real.” Action choreographers Anal Arasu, Ram-Lakshman and Naga Venkat Naga have been signed on for the project, which also stars Saiyami Kher and Regina Cassandra. The director reveals that the leading ladies will be seen in fierce avatars as well. “They are all shooting right now in Hyderabad. It is a start-to-finish schedule as we want to wrap it up by the year-end. We’ll shoot in Hyderabad, Mangalore and other cities across India. We have cast a top south actor as the antagonist, which we will reveal when the time is right.”

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