Desi porn star strikes it rich, to marry

NEW YORK: A thriving career as a porn star has not stopped Sunny Leone, born to Punjabi parents hailing from New Delhi, from getting married.

Penthouse Pet of the Year 2003 and now a Vivid Girl, the California-based buxom brunette is busy planning a big fat Punjabi wedding as well as an American one in March next year. 

Sunny Leone, the adopted name of the Sikh girl, is, in fact, grateful to the adult entertainment industry for introducing her to her fiancé, Matt Erickson, a senior executive with a major adult company.

"We met at an adult webmaster convention and have been dating for four years now," Sunny, 26, said.

Matt is the only male with whom she has enacted the sex act for a film that is to be released next year. So far, the admitted bisexual has done only girl-on-girl films.

Born in Sarnia, Ontario, in Canada, Sunny moved with her family to California as a teenager. She studied to be a nurse and tried modelling but didn't succeed because of her height, only 5 ft 4 inches.

Her life changed when an exotic dancer friend introduced her to nude modelling. Her exotic looks brought her the Penthouse title and later a contract with Vivid Entertainment, a quality erotic film production company which has crossed over into mainstream entertainment.

Vivid's first interactive DVD, 'Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone', featuring her, has won an industry award this year. She was also offered a role in a Bollywood movie, which has fizzled out.

Sunny runs her own website like a businesswoman. The site, she says, on some days gets more hits than the leading porn star Jenna Jameson's.

She calls the adult industry 'a business just like any other' and feels no qualms about using her My Space page, which proclaims she has 32,489 friends, to attract traffic to her website.

Giving an insider's view of the industry, Sunny says it is worth billions of dollars and has been responsible for many of internet's advances and innovations. The industry is also on top of latest technology like VOD (video-on-demand), HD (high definition) and high density Blu-ray DVDs.

The freely available adult content on internet, she says, has affected the sales of adult magazines and movie theatres, but they are still popular. She also believes that porn's purveyors include women.

Sunny's parents, who migrated from New Delhi 28 years ago, have some idea of what she does for a living, "but not entirely", she says. She has not been to India since she was a little girl but is planning a trip now to meet her extended family.

Sunny lives in Sacramento and in Hawaii.