Film producer Sorav Gupta (of Sundawn Entertainment Pvt Ltd) has levelled shocking allegations of cheating, extortion and forgery against actor-MP Sunny Deol. In a press conference earlier this week, Gupta, a real estate developer turned producer alleged that Sunny Deol took money from him in advance to do a film in 2016, continued to take more money while promising that he would start the film, but eventually never ended up doing the film after his recent film Gadar 2 became a huge hit.

Gupta tells HT City that in 2016 he signed a deal with Sunny Deol as the lead for his film on a fee of Rs. 4 cr. “We gave him Rs. 1 cr in advance but instead of starting my film, he opted to shoot for Poster Boys (2017) instead. He kept asking me for more money and by now my Rs. 2.55 cr is in Sunny ji’s account. He also made me give money to another director, book Filmistaan studio and get an executive producer,” Gupta tells us.

The producer also alleges that Deol forged an agreement with his company in 2023. “When we read the agreement, humne dekha ki unhonein toh panna hi change kar diya beech wala, jahan par fees ka amount Rs. 4 cr ko badha kar Rs. 8 cr kar diya aur profit to Rs. 2 cr kar diya,” he shares.

Filmmaker Suneel Darshan, known for films such as Janwar (1999) and Andaaz (2003) also came in support of Gupta in the same press conference and alleged that he, too, had faced the same issue with Sunny Deol. “Sunny Deol acquired rights from my movie Ajay (1996) for overseas distribution and only made a partial payment. The balance payment never came through,” says Darshan, adding, “Later, Sunny requested me to work on a project with him, saying, ‘Have faith in me, help me out’, and got me to pay him again.”

An industry source, on condition of anonymity, tells us that Deol is notorious for dishonouring commitments with several producers after signing agreements . “He is a known troublemaker for years. Sunny had given a bound script of a film called Ram Janmbhumi to a producer who created a huge set in Mumbai. Sunny signed the film for Rs. 5 cr. But later, he refused to come to the sets and demanded a fees of Rs. 25 cr because he had delivered a blockbuster (Gadar 2, 2023).”

Gupta shares that he has filed a police complaint against Deol “The police issued [Deol] a notice on April 30. His office sent a letter saying he was out of town on the day he was to present himself,” says Gupta.

We reached out to Sunny Deol for his side but were met with no response till the time of going to press.

(R-L) Suneel Darshan, Sorav Gupta and Ashok Sarogi