Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; February 10, 2018)

The past few days have been frenetic for Sunny Leone, whose Tamil film Veeramadevi went on floors in Chennai. Considering the period drama sees her playing the titular role of a warrior princess, the actor has been training extensively in horse riding and sword-fighting. “My muscles got sore in two days as I have done a lot of horse riding and sword-fighting — that too, while wearing heavy armour. But, I had a lot of fun,” she tells mid-day.

While the actor has made a cameo appearance in a song in Tamil film Vadacurry (2014), the V C Vadivudayan-directed film marks her debut in South cinema as a leading lady. With a film that is centred on her character, Leone hopes it will help change audience perception. She says, “It’s going to be a long and gruelling film, but I am up for the challenge. I have always wanted to do action sequences and this film has allowed me to push my limits. It’s a different role and I am sure my image will change after this film.”

Although she is trained in the basics of horse riding, Leone says she will have to learn to balance while galloping and cantering. “I had learnt the English way of riding, which is relatively more poised. For this film, I had to gallop the horse with another 50 of them behind me,” she reveals.

Determined to grab eyeballs with this performance, Leone says that she even tried to practice sword-fighting at home, albeit with hilarious results. “I was shooting for my new television show, Man vs Wild. I borrowed a dummy sword from the show and practiced at home. But when I reached the set, I realized they had real swords and they were really heavy,” she laughs.

Although a portion of the film has been shot in the last few days, she reveals that the major chunk of the multi-lingual drama will be filmed in May. “By the end of the shoot, I’m sure I’ll have added many new skills to my resume.”