As he grew up in Punjab, for Sonu Sood the idea of Ganesh Chaturthi and the celebrations that followed was limited to what he saw in Hindi films. Once in Mumbai, to chase his Bollywood dreams, the actor got a closer look at the festive celebrations, which drew him to immerse himself in the city’s culture and tradition. He was left mighty impressed as he visited pandals, especially Mumbai’s iconic Lalbaugcha Raja when he was new to Mumbai. Inspired by what he witnessed during the festivities in the city, Sonu then decided to get the whole experience closer to home. It’s been over two decades since he’s been doing Ganpati puja in his Mumbai house.

Recollecting how it all started, Sonu shares, “I remember Sonali (his wife) had just arrived from Punjab. We were staying at a rented apartment in Mumbai back then. We wished to get Bappa home as we wanted to immerse ourselves in the city’s festive spirit.”

Sonu continues, “So, I went on a motorbike to Vile Parle railway station and got home a small murti. It was around eight-inches tall, and Sonali then told me that we should get a bigger idol. Since then, we have been getting a four-foot-tall idol. I remember at midnight we were looking for some accessories to decorate and set up our home for the puja. During our early years, we were not aware of the kind of rituals we needed to perform as we had only seen Ganpati celebrations in films and Bollywood songs. Slowly, over the years, we learnt it all. It’s been 22 years since we have been bringing Bappa home.”

The Soods have the celebrations in their home for five days. “We have guests coming over for darshan. My friends from my struggling days and my former roommates visit us every year. We don’t have to send them an official invite as they were a part of the process right from the day we started getting Lord Ganesha home. We do aarti every day, deck up the house, put fresh flowers every morning and cook traditional food. In fact, I have tried making modaks, but failed miserably. Last year, they turned out slightly better, so I will try making them this year, too. We also make prasad at home. During these five days, it feels so good every time you wake up in the morning and see Bappa at home. My sons are also excited, and their friends visit our home, too,” says the actor.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic, Sonu has turned into a Covid Warrior, helping migrants reach home safely during the lockdown, providing kits to those in need of essentials like rice, dal, milk, etc., and lend a helping hand to those who needed medicines or hospital beds during the pandemic. “I will pray to Bappa that he gives me strength to come to their aid. I will be distributing prasad to the people who gather outside my building every day to seek help. I will also get a few of them to my house for Bappa’s darshan. From the day I got Bappa home, I have felt his guiding force that helped me sail through my life, career, pandemic and every other challenge that I have faced. This year I am going to thank him for whatever he taught me in the last one-and-a-half years. It was through his blessings that I could connect with so many people from the country and was able to help them.” 

From helping stranded migrant workers to reach their respective homes during the lockdown last year, finding beds for patients in hospitals for Coronavirus treatment, to hitting the streets to spread awareness about getting vaccinated — Sonu Sood has been out and about in times of the pandemic, while risking his own safety. As he continued with his good deeds in various ways, the actor caught some symptoms and tested COVID positive on April 16.

He says, “I had a bit of a headache, felt feverish and had a little cough, too. I thought I should take a test and it turned out to be positive. Since then, I have locked myself up in a room of my house. Whenever I need anything, my family is always there to help me.”

Sonu, who is on medication and has been asked to take rest by the doctors, is working from the confines of his room. “Frankly, I haven’t been this busy even when I was hale and hearty. I haven’t got time to keep my phone away. It’s constantly ringing. The thing is that I am trying to make a system that is something like a toll-free number through which people across the country can get connected to find oxygen cylinders, beds or even set up ICUs in their homes. The idea is that everybody gets access to everything during these tough times. It’s an important project and I can’t lose focus,” he signs off.

Last year he turned saviour for thousands of migrant workers and helped them reach their villages when the lockdown was implemented during the pandemic. Come 2021, Sonu Sood is back on the streets, and this time, he is spreading awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated to fight Coronavirus. The actor started a vaccination drive today in Amritsar, on the occasion of World Health Day.

Talking about his initiative, Sonu says, “I think there is too much confusion among people regarding the vaccine. They are still wondering ki vaccine lena chahiye ya nahi lena chahiye. So, I thought it was time I get down to spreading awareness about the importance of everyone getting vaccinated. I have planned a country-wide drive beginning from Amritsar. While I am encouraging people to get vaccinated, even I am getting vaccinated today to motivate them.”

Considering he hails from Punjab, Sonu picked his home state to begin the drive. In fact, he will be initiating the campaign from an iconic location — the Attari-Wagah Border near Amritsar. He says, “I wanted to start from a place where my roots lie. Also, I realised that many people from Punjab have not been taking the vaccine or are in two minds. The Attari-Wagah Border is quite special. It is a place of national pride that symbolises unity. That apart, I would also be focusing upon Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and other parts of India. The idea is to get maximum people educated about the vaccine.” 

Through this drive, Sonu is also looking at making vaccines available to people for free at private hospitals in six cities. He says, “We are tying up with NGOs at places like Nashik and Indore, among others, where we will make free vaccines available for people.”

With COVID-19 cases on the rise in several parts of India, Sonu is also back to doing something he did last year. “Back in 2020, when the cases were high, I used to get a lot of calls from people saying that beds nahi mil rahe hospitals mein. Today, I am receiving the same number of calls asking me to help them get a bed at a medical facility. I hope this time around, just like last year, a lot of people come forward and help others. The key is in showing unity and humanity,” he signs off.

Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 28, 2020)

The aftermath of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has been eventful, with many openly declaring how Bollywood is a big bad world. Actor Sonu Sood feels the situation post Rajput’s demise has gone out of control, especially the way in which it has become a topic of primetime discussion.

“I feel sad when I see those debates and interviews. There are a lot of my family members who are not from the film industry, and they react to such news in a very emotional manner,” shares Sood, 47, who believes that as a public figure, one has to exercise immense control over their words.

“As actors, when you go on a platform and say things, you don’t realise how it’s going to affect the common man, because he believes in you. As celebrities, we may forget about what we say, but the common man does not,” he asserts.

The actor goes on to say that as idols and inspiration to millions of people, celebrities should always bear in mind the impact of the statements they make. “Hindi mein ek kahavat hai na, ki tol mol ke bolo. Just to get media attention, people go overboard, which is sad. I wish our industry folks reacted to the situation more intelligently,” he says.

While there has been a lot of negativity around the film industry, Sood has been busy with migrant rehabilitation work. He shares how people from the industry have started looking at him differently now.

“I am getting very exciting offers, superhero films and larger-than-life roles, something that I always wanted to do, but never got to. I did mostly negative roles, and it was very difficult to break that image, because you get trapped in that. Now, directors tell me that if they write negative roles for me, they will get beaten up, because people do not want to see me in such roles. It is magical how this has happened,” he signs off.

Sonu Sood bought a tractor for Nageswara Rao after a viral video showed his daughters pulling a plough across their field because they were unable to afford oxen

After Feeding And Helping Migrants Reach Home, The Actor Now Wants To Create Jobs For Them
Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 26, 2020)

If you are a medical student stuck in Kyrgyzstan, a Chittoor farmer whose daughters must pull the plough because he can’t afford a pair of oxen or a priest who needs money to carry out a knee surgery for his offspring — get the message out to Sonu Sood. Help might be at hand. In the past few months, the 47-year-old Bollywood actor has not only become an everyday Santa Claus for the disadvantaged and the desperate, he has emerged as India’s chief minister of hope.

Sonu’s Twitter timeline is a document of everything India has endured since the nationwide Coronavirus lockdown in March. It’s a bulletin board for the jobless, the stranded and the ailing — ordinary people handcuffed by problems and with nowhere to go. But the model-turned-actor’s account — he has 3.2 million followers — is also a heart-tugging story of a film star who walks his tweets. And who doesn’t stop walking, even though the lockdown is long gone.

The lockdown had created a food crisis, especially for the lowest in the survival pyramid. Sonu started distributing meals in Thane. One day, a group of 350 migrants wanted him to pack food for their 10-day trek back to Karnataka. He asked them to wait for a few days and got necessary permission to send them home by bus. But driving back to home, when he saw an unending caravan of weary men, women and children trudging along the highway, the big picture flashed in his mind.

“I realised that this is not the story of 350 people but of millions of migrants across India. From that day, I began connecting people across states. We have sent close to 1.5 lakh people home,” Sonu says. In June, he was also dragged into a verbal crossfire between the Maharashtra state government and the opposition, but the actor sorted things out.

Sonu was born in Patiala, brought up in Moga; both Punjab towns. His father ran a cloth shop and his mother taught English in a local college. He grew up watching her coach college students for free at home. Every week his father hosted langars outside his shop. The teenager internalised empathy from their actions. “They were my school. From them I learnt to step forward and help the needy,” says the actor over the phone.

In recent weeks, Sonu has expanded his horizons. While dropping off migrants to airports, railway stations and bus stands, he would often wonder what would happen when they come back to Mumbai. “That’s when I thought, I must generate jobs for them,” he says.

An electronics engineer by training, Sonu had built a circle of friends during his college days in Nagpur. They came together with other professionals to produce Pravasi Rozgar, a free portal and app for job seekers ranging from DTP operators, drivers, plumbers and accountants. On August 15, he tweeted, “300,000+ jobs committed, 20,000+ interviews in progress.”

“About 10,000 have already started their work. We are trying to upscale this initiative by connecting with 8,000-10,000 schools across the country. We will teach them and place them in the kind of jobs they want. In the next 6-8 months, we will get connected to the rest of the country,” he says. His missions were mostly self-funded, he says, before others joined in.

Several Bollywood personalities have offered their chequebooks and hearts to aid the needy in recent months. And the beneficiaries have responded with return gifts of gratitude: letters, notes, paintings. A pregnant woman from Darbhanga, whom he had helped return home, has named her son after him. Someone has sent him a doll of his mother. “There is a moment every day that touches your heart and makes you believe that you are doing something right in life,” he says.

“I wasn’t trained to get people back home from Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan. Speaking to ambassadors, the Union ministry of external affairs, getting landing permissions — I had never done that before. But I had the confidence it would happen,” he says. And he has retained his sense of humour. Someone tweeted asking for a lift to a liquor shop; Sonu replied, “Brother, I can only drop you from liquor store to your home.”

His film career is in fine fettle too. The actor of Dabangg, Jodhaa Akbar and Arundhati (Telugu) will be shooting for Yash Raj Film’s historical Prithviraj, the 12th century Rajput king. Sonu plays the poet Chand Bardai, who wrote Prithviraj Raso. “I am getting interesting scripts, roles that I had never done before,” he says.

There’s talk Sonu will join politics. “I am in a good space. I want to stay before the camera for the next few years. Then let us see what happens.”