Sunny ki dasha!

Sunny Leone There now that I have your attention with the worldrsquos most googled name over multiple yearsmdashit might be easier to have you explore Karenjit Kaur Vohra the actual person behind the screen nameTo start with why is she Sunny Leone of all names I wondered about this dozing off watching a show recently where they mentioned the African country Sierra Leone in it and I read the subtitles as Sunny LeoneWait is she named after the African country The real story and I couldnrsquot find it detailed on Google is equally random When she was still Karenjitmdashmeaning not yet entered the adult film industry the accepted euphemism for pornmdashshe was being interviewed Irsquom assuming for a girlie magazine after debuting as a pinupSunny recalls ldquoSo I was at work This was at a tax retirement firm where I did all kinds of jobs one of which was as the receptionist During that call that I had to finish fast they asked me what should they name me I couldnrsquot think of anything so I said Sunny which is my brotherrsquos name He is Sandeep Singh For the last name I asked them to pick one themselvesrdquoAs it turns out the magazinersquos owner was Italian Hence Leone Aha got itmdashas in filmmaker Sergio Leone popular Italian surname not Sierra Leone That said Sunny Leone which Karenjit sees totally as a brand distinct from her has gone through multiple makeovers itself Besides the influencer behind several businesses from cosmetics to crypto Sunny Leone 20 is a Bollywood actorWe take this for granted of course But is there any other person from the adult film industry in the world whorsquos made that critical transition into mainstream showbiz in the first place ldquoIn India for sure not In the world I donrsquot know There is Paris Hilton Kim Kardashian Tommy Leehellip Okay theyrsquore entertainers not mainstream actorsrdquo Sunny agreesAnd this breaking of a global taboo happened in India of all places Shersquod obviously been to Indiamdashwhere her Punjabi parents first moved to Canada frommdashquite a few times growing up ldquoBut as Karen not Sunny LeonerdquoWhen she got an offer from India to enter the reality show Bigg Boss in 2011 she first refusedmdashwary of how the desi public will respond to her besides understandable safety concernsThe guys at Colors TV evidently made her an offer she couldnrsquot refuse The money was good enough for her ldquodownpayment for houserdquo in LA She had just got married to Daniel Webber also her business partner It was just two weeksrsquo work and back home That was the plan The channel had also assured her that security would not be an issueLanding in Mumbai she and her bodyguard from LA decided to take a quick peek into what was going on outside the airport while Webber went off to fetch the bags And phew she saw a massive uncontrollable crowd jostling outside to catch a glimpse of lsquoSunny Leonersquo ldquoWe just rushed back The military at the airport had to form a human chain as we were somehow finally escorted outrdquoThat frenzy continues clearly Consider an image from Kerala that went viral online once when Sunny had visited Kochi to promote a cellphone brand ldquoWersquove done such events a million times But with this one the stage was small From the car I could see lots of people outsideldquoOnce I got out there was a swarm for as long as you could see hanging from buses It takes your breath away People were analysing later online that they were from a political rally nearby But they were all yelling my name Itrsquos on my way back that I saw that picture yoursquore talking about lsquoHoly shitrsquoldquoThey were wellbehaved though and the police were on guard Security concerns depend on circumstances Sometimes yoursquore at greater risk at a lounge or a nightclub than in a public placerdquoWhat this insane love for Sunny reveals about usmdashan inherent nonjudgmental liberalism or sheer hypocrisy is hard to tell Whatrsquos common regardless of where yoursquore in India as shersquos mentioned before is Sunny being stared atldquoI think itrsquos an Indian thing Itrsquos not just with me They just stare straight at you I just walk with my horse blinders on The funniest is when I actually say hello to someone on a set or in generalmdashthey just slink away They donrsquot say a hey back Thatrsquos even ruderrdquoEver since the Bigg Boss gig Sunny says her life has been on a ldquowheel turning on its ownrdquo Bigg Boss led to Pooja Bhattrsquos Jism 2 her Bollywood debut that was a hit chiefly for its topclass soundtrackThe filmoffer happened with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt entering the Bigg Boss house to publicly sign her up She thought it was a gimmickjoke ldquoI didnrsquot know who he was Recently I was on the set with Pooja Bhatt getting into the Bigg Boss house How life comes a full circlerdquoOn her maiden Bollywood shoot she felt like a ldquofish out of waterrdquo Otherwise her knowledge of Hindi cinema was limited to VHS tapes of films her family playedmdashon occasion for latenight pyjama plus pizza parties at homeItrsquos not that she thought about those films much let alone imagine starring in them ldquoI could understand the movies because Punjabi is similar to Hindi Being from a conservative family I spoke to my mother about how the heroines in those films were allowed to wear certain clothes that I wasnrsquot permitted to at home Those were my concernsrdquoThis tallies with the usual desi Diaspora life doesnrsquot it ldquoIt does And I have a theory Donrsquot know about now but back then the homesick migrants who moved to other countries chose to create a lsquotime warprsquo around themselvesmdashfor when and what they had left behindldquoSo inside their homes they recreated the same philosophies of Indian life and culture to feel like they hadnrsquot moved at allrdquo Sounds like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge 1995 surelyWritten and directed by Anurag Kashyap Kennedy premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film FestivalThat was young Karenrsquos life Before she became lsquoSunny Leonersquo the adult film star and thereafter a Bollywood actor of course There is a scene in Jism 2 where she heaves and moans to tell her coactor on screen ldquoYou think this is easy It looks like it Itrsquos notrdquoWhile she didnrsquot write that line she believes in it ldquoNo matter what you do if yoursquore an entertainer itrsquos true itrsquos a tough life Even if you have families backing youmdashthey canrsquot help you win the love of the publicldquoAnd when yoursquore working nobody asks you what your day was like or what yoursquore going through on that daymdashyou just perform Even if someone did askmdashyou wouldnrsquot say how you feel You wear a mask all the timerdquoTake her journey to be taken seriously as a mainstream actor for instance She says she did go through acting workshops before the shoot of Jism 2 And shersquos had a team of coaches sinceAt one point she was paying an acting instructor 200300 an hourmdashldquothey can be that expensiverdquo This is because a top Mumbai filmmaker had asked her to audition for the lead in a major productionAnd apparently she declinedmdashbecause she was offered economyclass tickets to arrive at the shoot ldquoOh no that was still okayhellip It was everything across the board And I am not talking about some smallbudget film or a production company that couldnrsquot afford things to be put into the budget for an artiste It just seemed so unreasonable But hey I did pass the auditionrdquoSunny Leone made her Bollywood debut with Jism 2 2012She doesnrsquot name the film Irsquom thinking in my head Vishal Bhardwajrsquos Rangoon 2017 where she could potentially crack the whip well as Hunterwali or the AustralianIndian Fearless Nadia But why hazard a guessldquoLetrsquos just say the gentlemanrsquos films did very well but this one I auditioned for went average So everything happens for a reasonrdquo Sunny did bag and see through the lead part of Charlie in Anurag Kashyaprsquos Kennedy post an audition that was ldquoheld before the entire office with everyone being asked how it wentrdquoShe was terrified Only to realisemdashwhen she hung out with these audience members over a drink much latermdashthat she had been preselected already ldquoAnurag sir probably just wanted to check if Irsquoll show up for the audition Of course I will Since things have landed on my shoulders on their own I may have created the impression that I wonrsquot test for parts which is obviously not truerdquoThis is the first time Irsquove met Sunny Strangely one thing that most journalists say once they do interview her is how surprised they were to find her so sorted in the head As if adult films stars posing consensually before a camera must be ditzy brunettesIf anything you expect candour from a rare celebrity in this part of the world whorsquos owned her life so publicly through a documentary Mostly Sunny 2016mdasheven a multiseason semifictional series on her life Karenjit Kaur The Untold Story of Sunny Leone 2018 Which Irsquove to admit I couldnrsquot finish because the crappy app itrsquos on ZEE5 just wouldnrsquot allow me toldquoWhatrsquos in the series is all true I was clear about that when they approached me for it Irsquom very emotional about my family and I wouldnrsquot have it any other wayrdquo Sunny promisesThat series starts with an interview by a journalist trying to slutshame Sunny to state it crudely Itrsquos somewhat based on news anchor Bhupendra Chaubeyrsquos chat with her for News 18 in 2016 Which showed a really unfazed and warm side of Sunnymdashshe says stuff like itrsquos possible that superstar Aamir Khan may not wish to work with someone like her but thatrsquos okaySoon after she got a call from Aamir Sunny recalls ldquoHe felt the same cringe So many others too called up to say they were proud of me Anil Kapoor Sonam Kapoor Hrithik RoshanhelliprdquoGiven the context on a lark I asked ChatGTP what Chaubeyrsquos former colleague broadcaster Rajdeep Sardesai might ask Sunny Leone in an interview All crappy questions Our jobs are still safe But I ask her one from that list anywaylsquoYoursquove faced a lot of criticism and backlash from some sections of society for your past work how do you deal with such negativityrsquo Sunny says ldquoI donrsquot deal These people leaving comments are still there only moving me up in Google rankingsrdquo So whorsquos the loser heremdashfair callpointThe other thing interesting about the Karenjit Kaur series is it features a standup comedian called Rusty who is so obviously based on the Canadian desi comic Russell Peters Rusty makes jokes on Sunny part of his standup routine while they had actually once dated True storyldquoYeah you should check it out Not that I mind at all Itrsquos for the laughs itrsquos totally finerdquo How long had they dated ldquoFor a hot second We were great together as friendsmdashdrinking being silly funnyhellip We went on a date and just messed it up Irsquod still be so happy to meet himrdquoAs per that series again her boyfriend then Daniel husband now beats the shit out of Rusty for using Sunny in his gags ldquoOh no that was just sensationalising That never happened All that family parts in the series though are all trueldquoActually when I met Danny is when I was still just dating Russell Once Danny and I got together I just had to drop my friendship with Russell Itrsquod be a mixing of weirdness otherwise Felt sad about itrdquoUnsure if Sunny continues to make it to Russellrsquos standup set Surely itrsquod be better than other Sunny jokes floating around forever lsquoWhat happens when Sunny Deol marries Sunny Leone They both become Sunny Leonersquo She doesnrsquot find any of them funny anyway ldquoDanny does but he has a different sense of humourrdquoHaving spent over a decade in Mumbaimdashwhich even for Indians is a tough city to live inmdashSunny says itrsquos her pucca New Yorker Brooklyn Jewish husband Daniel whorsquos turned more desi as a resultShe laughs ldquoWell donrsquot go by my American accent Irsquom totally Indian myself too And even after I retire Mumbai will remain my home forever But when I see Danny order chicken tikka all the time bob his head say lsquotimepassrsquo lsquojustrsquo lsquoonlyrsquohellip Irsquom like lsquoWho are you dudersquordquoThe only thing that surprises me about Sunny is that shersquos a Trump supporter or at least a sufficient sympathisermdashand this only because shersquos the daughter of Indian migrants herself Trumprsquos views on migration in general are wellknownBesides that itrsquos not proven or proven otherwise that Trump was a sexual offender at all or that his supporters stormed the Capitol when he lost the electionsmdashSunnyrsquos arguments are focused more on Joe Bidenrsquos supposed indiscretionsWe get into a bit of a political debate to realise soon enough thankfullymdashitrsquos kinda pointless in these polarised times Waste of time Nobodyrsquos winning thisBut she has her firm opinions and itrsquos do with the fact that her brother Sandeep the real lsquoSunnyrsquo a chef has to be pay for Obamacare Americarsquos healthcare programme supported by the DemocratsldquoWell he canrsquot feed himself and itrsquos okay that he must pay premium for Obamacare He must have the choice whether to or not America is all about choicerdquoOkay okay moving on If you follow her conversations even casually the only prism to assess Karenjit as a person is to see her quite simply as an astute business person ldquoAnd doing business is slightly different in Indiardquo she saysSomething she needs to adjust to ldquoWe are Americans We do our work and move on Over here more emotions get involved Thatrsquos what businesses run on That you must meet next week too even when the work is over It was a learning curve And something that Danny and I have realised we need to pay attention tordquoThat said Sunny sees India as the market to be in ldquoEven if you go to Bandra and check with people selling slippers there how much they makemdashitrsquoll shock you Of course there is competition but running small businesses even mom and pop shops is much easier than in America Just look at the number of people hererdquoAs a big enough brand herselfmdashwith a premium valuation for everything from ribboncutting to product endorsementsmdashthere are businesses she runs with Sunny Leone as the leverageShe says ldquoIt helps me live my passion which was always business since I was a child I was that kid knocking on doors selling you stuffmdashstarting with lemonade shoveling snow Even when I entered theadult industry I built my own website learnt HTML marketing photoshop for images video ran my own affiliate programmehelliprdquoNot that wersquore taxmen to ask how much she makesmdashit certainly sounds like an empire of sorts by Indian standards What does she do with her moneymdashdoes she have guiltypleasure luxuries say a private islandldquoI hope Danny buys me one in Maldives where we keep going for holidays No Irsquom just a ploughhorse on a farm that keeps working Irsquom lucky because my husband buys stuff for us But we spent on our house here in Andheri West our carshellip We also save moneymdashwe have three kids a lot of it will go to themrdquoHow about a private jet ldquoOh I would never buy that Not even reserve a seat in a timeshare programmerdquo Whyrsquos that Well there is a storyldquoOkay firstly those private jets are nothing like you see in amazing images and ads Theyrsquore dinkies We got into a private plane going to Latur in Maharashtra because there is no commercial airport there The plane got into a crazy airpocketWe had the Sardar pilot loudly praying lsquoWaahe Guruji Waahe Gurujirsquo Our security guyrsquos legs were flying in two different directions hands elsewhere Danny was losing it with the manager whorsquod booked us in the plane I was trying to calm him down I swore Irsquoll never fly such a plane againldquoAnd guess what A month later we learnt that we had matched with a girl Nisha for adoption Guess where Latur I asked my manager to book a private charter again He said lsquoAre you out of your mindrsquo We had to return to Latur to eventually pick Nisha up thereafter as well I guess Latur and I are connected in the most amazing and nonamazing ways But yes I donrsquot mind the last row of a commercial flightmdashno private jetrdquoDone No private jet for most of us who are reading this either Just that we will never afford itmdashat least we can feel better about it To think of it everything began for Sunny with photos in girlie magazines and videos that went viral before that term was inventedWhile production of porn is illegal in India I tell her about how there is a thriving underground local adult filmsrsquo scene One of the male stars of which an actor called Shakespeare itrsquos his real name Irsquove been in touch with as a journalist for quite some timeShakespeare tells me about how Sunnyrsquos unthinkable commercial success had inspired a cottage ecosystem of female aspirants Which in a way also reflects a changing society when it becomes to matters of shame and guilt associated with sexIs she aware of this or does she have a take on it ldquoHow would I know of whatrsquos going on I live in my own bubble When I go out to meet people itrsquos not like they say come on letrsquos talk about sexrdquoThe truth is those aspirants will not see anything close to Sunny days ever Maybe even get penalisedostracised for it in the long run who knowsConsider Mia Khalifamdashan adult film star about as wellknown as Sunny In 2014 she shot a dozen videos for 12000 which remained her lifetimersquos income from it Her popularity subsequently soared but she gained nothingAnd she never actually wished to be a lsquoporn starrsquo she saidmdashcoming out in public eventually shining a light on the exploitative nature of Americarsquos adult film industry To which Sunny responds ldquoHow do I put this in a nice way Read your contractrdquoShe adds ldquoI worked only with the best people I have no horror stories I read through and corrected every single contract to ensure I was gaining something from it I was in control of everything that I was doingAnd I do believe in that industry there are different sides But from my perspective I was in complete control I saw it as a means to get towards something differentrdquoAs for whether she empathises with Miarsquos stateclaims at least she argues ldquoLetrsquos say you are going to broadcast this interview on one platform But you also license it out to several other outlets If I sign a contract that says no you canrsquot Then you canrsquot Sure you could end up with people who lie But usually at least in my experience people are straightforwardrdquoIn her own case while shersquos exited the adult industry her videos continue to fly ldquoExactly You canrsquot get rid of the Internet itrsquos impossible But I did make suremdashI got out of whatever time I spent on it I didldquoAlso you knowmdashitrsquos like me telling you to limit where you are going to put out this interview Is that going to help me or hurt me Do I want you to exploit this interview Of courserdquoIf we go back again to the Karenjit Kaur series the one who was evidently hurt by Sunnyrsquos choice of profession was her mother foremost Apparently she veered towards alcoholism as a resultldquoNo my mother became an alcoholic way before my life choices We went through a lot of craziness in our house because of this addiction It was sad because you always want to think that your mother loves you more than alcoholldquoBut it wasnrsquot about that It was an addictionmdashsomething psychological that needed to be repaired from the inside That had nothing to do with meldquoWas I a trigger Most definitely But I was always a trigger It didnrsquot matter what I didmdashwhether it was coming home late or anything she didnrsquot like When the adult industry happened it was you know a stamptrigger It was not fun at allrdquoWhich brings me to what can only be termed the successful lsquoporn star paradoxrsquo And itrsquos something any libertarian parent might have to deal with Which ismdashwhat if their child tells them they wish to follow in the footsteps of Sunny given the immeasurable amounts of fame and money she has achieved What would they even say How would Sunny respond if her children asked her the sameldquoI would have to educate them as much as possiblemdashto let them know of pros and the cons of this decision They will obviously know about what I have done in my life at some point They are too young now I made certain decisions because of whatever circumstances in my lifeSo if I can provide you with sound decisionsmdashwhere you know what you are doing and if you are okay with thatmdashthen I donrsquot think I would be able to stop anybody after a certain ageI donrsquot knowmdashthey are only 5 and 7 Itrsquos a long time from now My main worry is how to get through their teenage years I think that will be more difficult than some of the life choices they make after 18rdquoHer childrenrsquos professional future is way ahead of them of coursemdashwe may still be looking far too much into Sunnyrsquos past as well while shersquos currently at another cusp in her careerShe returned from Cannes where her film Kennedy premiegravered before a packed house at the biggest venue of the festival Itrsquos surprising that this was her first time at the French riviera given the number of stars celebrities and wannabes walk the redcarpet there for a photoopShe was a rare one from India with an actual film to show for it The screening at the worldrsquos top cinema fete concluded with a reported sevenminute standing ovation Sunny you could see was in tearsldquoI was crying like a baby the entire week at Cannes It was a really emotional trip And there are two sides of it One is the film itself which I am so happy and proud of Then there is my personal journeymdashand what does Cannes means to me in itldquoIf you told me when I stepped foot in the Bigg Boss housemdashthat 11 years later I would be walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival I would have told you to go f yourself That you are some crazy man who took some blue pill And thatrsquos the crazy journey that Irsquove hadrdquo