Sunny Deol talks about making his comeback in a PR-driven Bollywood

It looks like Sunny Deol has walked into a world he doesn't know exists. The moment he walks inside a room packed with journalists, he looks overwhelmed. His expression suggests that he's not used to such promotional rounds. "The things one needs to do for promotions these days," are first words that stumble out of his mouth.

Deol, the handpump-uprooting beefcake of the 1990s, who took the nation by storm when he gatecrashed into Pakistan in a truck in the 2001 Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, is back. And for reasons best known to him, he has decided that his comeback vehicle will be a reboot of a hit he had delivered 25 years ago. His newest, Ghayal Once Again, is a reprisal of Ghayal, a Raj Kumar Santoshi movie that bought him the first of his two Filmfare awards and a National Film Award by the Special Jury.

But the Ajay Mehra that fought with the evil powers that be a couple of decades ago, is now a newspaper editor in Ghayal Once Again. His newspaper, Satyakam, is clearly a nod to his father Dharmendra's 1969 hit, considered one of his best roles. And Mehra, in the age of the internet and fast dissemination of information, is sold to saving a bunch of college kids that have witnessed a crime. With Ghayal Once Again, Sunny turns director once again.

So, what kept him away from the movies for so long? "I did not have a script that I wanted to be a part of," comes the reply. "Most movies are PR-driven affairs, and all actors think of are six-pack abs. I loved the movies of the '60s — there was a certain rhythm in them which you don't find these days."

When asked whether he hates promotional runs, he tries to dismiss the question. "This is now part of an actor's life. The approach earlier was different. If the content worked with the audience, the movie would become a hit.

All we needed was a manager," he says. "With multiplexes, this changed. There are now several teams, and success is limited. Movies are now corporatised. Hopefully, the MNCs that manage the movie business are creative not just with the excel sheets."

Born to a family of farmers from Punjab, Sunny, a year short of 60, says that his earliest memories are of his father's friends dropping by. The eldest son of yesteryear's superstar Dharmendra, Sunny made his debut in 1983 with Betaab. The smashing debut got him a nominee for the best actor at the Filmfare awards, instead of the best debut, reserved for star kids. He became one of the flag-bearers of the angry Indian man persona of the '90s along with Nana Patekar, and sometimes Anil Kapoor.

Apart from Ghayal and Gadar, one of the best performance Sunny has delivered in his career spanning over three decades has been in Damini, where he played the role of an angry lawyer, shunned by society and prone to the bottle, who helps the film's titular character, essayed by Meenakshi Sheshadri, win a case against her brother-in-law who along with his friends, gangrapes the househelp. Damini bagged Sunny a Filmfare and a National Award for best supporting actor.

As he talks of six-pack abs and the Bollywood PR machinery, it is inevitable that Shah Rukh Khan's name should pop up; Khan was a newbie when Sunny was at his peak, but stole the show in Darr, in which the two starred.

Rumour has it that the two haven't spoken in 16 years, save for a flight on which they seemed to have exchanged pleasantries. "I share a good equation with all my co-actors. We're all professionals at the end of the day," he says. "We're not enemies. This idea of friendships and enmity remains only in school. I must add that I'm more satisfied, patient and calmer today."