It’s been a long run at the cinemas for Sunny Deol, who made his debut with Betaab in 1984. Among the many projects, he is currently working on are the sequel to Gadar and Apne 2, which will see him sharing screen space with son Karan along with father, Dharmendra and brother Bobby. The actor is now in a new phase of his career, where the story and screenplay matter more than a larger-than-life presentation of him on screen. In a conversation with BT, the actor talks about breaking stereotypes attached to his name, the 2. 0 version of his career and why Apne 2 is the most special film of his life. Excerpts:

I’m actually doing quite a lot of films right now. In fact, I have projects releasing in theatres, and there’s something interesting for the digital format, too. Some of my movies are already on floors, a few will roll out in a few months, and my content for the digital platforms is being worked on. I think that you have to give the audience different kinds of content instead of dishing out the same thing repeatedly, hoping this is what they want to see.

(Cuts in…) R Balki’s films have unique worlds where I know I can work differently and do something distinct with my characters. The characters he creates, like the one in Chup, are not typical, larger-than-life breed of roles that I am offered all the time. They have a certain kind of layering. Balki has narrated a couple of projects to me after Chup, which I have loved, and I want to work with him on some of those because I have loved his style of ideation.

I love the idea of a film like Baap. It’s one of those films that not only features my colleagues from the ’80s, but it also has a unique story revolving around friendships and emotions; it brings back something from the bygone era and mixes it with new-age ideas. As for Apne 2 and Gadar 2, I was clear that unless we have something that could match the emotional quotient of the originals, we won’t go ahead with them. Apne 2 literally features almost all the Deol men. My whole family is in it. I didn’t want the writing to falter. I can now say that it has shaped up well. With the four of us in the same film, Apne 2 is one of the most special movies of my life. As for Gadar 2, we wanted a story that could emotionally be at par with Gadar. Gadar’s Tara Singh was not about pump ukhadna and chillana. It was a family’s struggle to fight divisive forces and be together. It had the ingredients of a great family film. We embarked on Gadar 2 only when we were sure we had something promising to take the legacy forward. It was a huge challenge to create something as good and live up to its name. I hope we have managed that.

I do feel that this is the most liberating phase of my career, and more so because of the digital world that has opened up, where you can make what you want and base your decisions on the strength and depth of a screenplay and story. You can play characters that you’ve never played, display a lot of detailing and layering in your performances and do what makes you happy as an artiste, without any box-office pressures. I feel that at one point in my life, I was typecast so much that my dhai kilo ka haath and my big action image overshadowed the characters and what they were meant to do in a film. But now, I can explore so much more. This is my time to fly as an actor and not struggle to keep an image alive. I am thankful for everything I’ve had, and I look forward to so many new experiences, roles, films and journeys, which will help me dive deep into my own emotions and enhance my understanding of life and cinema.