While Sunny is in the thick of completing his elder son’s debut film, he talks to BT about his plans to launch his second son
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; December 15, 2018)

It has been 18 months since Sunny Deol announced his son Karan Deol’s acting debut, Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas. The young lad had worked as an assistant director on Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 before taking the plunge as an actor. Now, Bombay Times has it that Sunny’s younger son Rajveer is also gearing up to become an actor, and is following his elder bro’s path into the movies. The only difference is that instead of assisting another director, he’s working with his dad on his brother, Karan’s debut film.

Talking about this, Sunny told us, “I will direct Rajveer’s debut film also. We will start planning his launch vehicle after Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas releases. The thing is, in the past, directors knew how to handle actors and people better, which is not quite the case today. In this case, he is my son and I know him really well. He’s currently assisting me, so by the time we are ready to start his film, he will know how to work with me as an actor, too.”

As a father, isn’t it a daunting task to direct one’s own son, given that there is an anxiety of a different kind? Sunny says, “I don’t think like that. As a matter of fact, when I was shooting for Betaab, my father had instructed the director that I should not do any action scenes on my own. While the body double failed to get on top of a horse, it was easy for me because I was a sportsperson. I could run and do it all by myself. So today, when I am directing my son, I can’t treat it like a pahad on my head. I don’t want that to burden my thoughts. I am not too conscious of the fact that Karan is my son. I love working on my instincts, which I might lose if I get very conscious. I start second-guessing my decisions, which is a bad idea.”

Sunny put his son through several difficult action sequences while shooting. He didn’t let the young actor use a body double and sometimes, filmed with him for 18 hours a day. “After Karan would shoot those scenes, I would curse myself. The father in me would act up for being ruthless with him, while the filmmaker in me would pacify that feeling. I would tell myself to not let my fears stop me from following my instincts. I decided that if something doesn’t work, Karan will back out on his own. It was always a dilemma for both of us, we didn’t want to feel the pressure and it was still a lot of pressure.”

Karan’s debut was announced in mid-2017, given that a year-and-a-half has already gone by, this project seems fairly delayed. To that, Sunny responds,“We never set out to make this film with a release date in mind. That puts undue pressure. Je main date te nahi aaya, toh negativity ho jaandi hai. We have no friends here and negativity spreads very quickly if you miss a promised date. I am spending my time and money to ensure we make the film well. After papa, Bobby and I see the film and when we think that it is good to go, we will set a release date. Karan’s work will be out there for everyone to see.”