When Sonu Sood emerged as the real-life hero of the Coronavirus lockdown with his philanthropy, inspiring people to name their businesses and children after him, we wondered how Bollywood's baddie would look convincing enough as the antagonist, henceforth. We anticipated things to proceed in one of two ways — Either people would no longer buy tickets of films that portrayed the actor in poor light. Or, they'd well celebrate a climax that saw Sood's Cheddi Singh beat Salman Dabangg Khan's Chulbul Pandey to pulp.

Sood, however, is teasing filmmakers with a different suggestion. Accustomed to packing in a punch on screen, he is set to romance singer Sunanda Sharma in the latter's upcoming song, Kitda. "It is the first track from my album. We knew that a Bollywood face would enhance it, and Sonu ji was happy to feature in it. He looks great on screen, and we look good together as well. The song has been produced on a grand scale and was shot over four days in Hyderabad," Sharma tells mid-day, adding that the unit decided to have a Bollywood hero frontline a Punjabi song, given that Hindi song-makers keep roping in "our Punjabi artistes".

The love song was shot with a restricted crew at Film City, with social distancing protocols in place. "This was written four years ago, but it wasn't as refined as it is now. The lockdown gave us the chance to revisit and enhance it."