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Subhash K Jha (DNA; September 20, 2016)

Sunny Leone’s boycott of the premiere of the documentary on her life Mostly Sunny has triggered off a ‘pained’ reaction from director Dilip Mehta. Belying Sunny’s husband Daniel Weber’s claim that they couldn’t make it to Toronto for the premiere on account of a family function in New York, Mehta claims Sunny refused to attend the premiere after he refused to cut some shots from the documentary on her request.

Says Dilip, “The final cut is the director’s cut and that’s how the film will remain. There’s no compelling reason to compromise the film. The changes they are asking for, won’t just weaken my vision, but also the truthfulness of the documentary.”

When asked to elaborate on the cuts that Sunny and her husband wanted, Dilip says, “It’s just that she now appears to be self-conscious of partial frontal nudity scenes and that’s so confusing!”

Dilip wonders if Leone is in denial of her past. “Has Sunny finally lost her spunk? It’s very surprising since her past has not only made her, it is also what’s sustaining interest in her... it’s the curiosity factor, in my opinion, that’s keeping the wheels turning,” he says.

And in spite of Leone’s absence, the documentary was very well received in Toronto. Says Dilip, “People are really getting it. Hers is such a fascinating life-trajectory. The reactions are quite overwhelming, which is why it is garnering media attention. Viewers are surprised by how vulnerable she appears to be.”

“Over lunch, a prominent Sikh professional told me he had gone into the theatre prejudiced (since Leone is a Sikhni as well as a former porn star), but he emerged from the screening, totally supportive and appreciative of her candour and honesty.”

Then why have Sunny and her husband turned hostile towards the film? Protests Dilip, “They have not turned hostile and neither have I. They see certain scenes in a different light than how I see it, and on the face of it, we agree to disagree.”

Apparently, Sunny is hurt because her hometown in Canada is shown to reject her in the documentary. But Dilip says that is, unfortunately, the truth. “In the very first shoot in her hometown Sarnia, not one individual would go on record in front of the camera. After much persuasion, only one family friend of her parents reluctantly spoke up and yet, ended up saying very little.”

When contacted, Daniel refused to comment on Dilip’s remarks stating he and his wife didn’t want to give the docu and its maker any publicity — Dilip is not at all regretful of making the documentary. He says, “I can’t possibly ignore the fact that throughout the making of the film, Sunny never once said, ‘Hold the roll’ or ‘Cut a particular scene/dialogue.“