It seems that Sunny Deol is not being able to get himself out of the ‘Tara Singh’ avatar any time soon as he felt that this time it his duty to lash out at the newer generation of actors in the Hindi movie industry. In an interview during the promotion of his upcoming sequel ‘Gadar Part 2’, Sunny Deol strongly expressed his discontent and disapproval of the younger generation of actors building bodies, growing and developing their abdominal muscles and learning various types of dance moves and even going to the extent of shaving their body hair just to have the ‘heroic’ look and appearance on the screen.

Looks Hold No Water before Sunny ‘Paaji’

In the industry of the present era, there is much talk and hype about an increasing focus on the physical appearance of those, who wish to see their names written in bold in this world of glitz and glamour. However, the ‘strongman’ of the Hindi movie industry, Sunny Deol, begs to differ in his opinion in this case. He strongly affirms his belief in the fact that the physical appearance of a person would never be able to overshadow the real talent and passion that he or she has towards exploring the field of acting. He feels that somebody, who has decided to make a living out of this profession of acting, should be more concerned with sharpening his skills in acting rather than focusing on his physical looks.

In an interview for the promotion of his upcoming movie ‘Gadar Part 2’, when he was asked about how he feels about the younger generation of actors being more focused and concerned about their looks on the screen, He appeared to be extremely disappointed with the younger generation of actors to give much focus on the shaping of his body. He looked seemingly disapproving of them when he mentioned that he hates the fact that many of them tend to shave off their bodily hair to put on their ‘star’ avatar before their fans. He felt that doing such things rather makes them look much more feminine and steals away their masculinity of them that, otherwise, could have added a natural charm to their appearance on the screen. “Mujhe toh badi sharam aati hai jab shave kar lete hai apne baal, ladki bann gaya (I feel shy when they shave their hair, they look like girls).” This was, what he had to say about the new generation of entertainers. He further went on to add that an actor must realize that there is no need for him to have a chiselled and sharp look as he is not in the field of bodybuilding, rather, his acting talents are something that he should keep above everything including his buff physical appearances. “We are actors and not bodybuilders,” said the ‘Dhai Kilo Kaa Haath’ of the Hindi movie industry.

The Mindset is to Be Challenged and Changed

The ‘Tara Singh’ of the Hindi movie industry feels that the younger generation of actors has all developed a strange set of mind that if they have been successful in building a chiselled physique with certain ‘six-pack abs’ and shave their bodily hair to make it look more silky, smooth and photogenic, then they are fit enough to be called ‘actors’. This is the wrong notion that Sunny Deol feels should be challenged and then changed. He told in the interview that during their time, their physical appearance did not hold much importance over their skills in acting. They focused on the art more than building a physique, which is, why they are still regarded as great actors. “We are here to act. But because of that, we are getting talents with the mindset, ‘I have built a body, I can now become an actor, I am a dancer, I can be an actor.’”

Lashes Out at the Non-Originality of the Content Produced

Not only he stops himself from chastising the ‘bodybuilding necessary to become an actor mindset of the younger generation of actors, but he also criticizes the present version of the Hindi movie industry for being unable to come up with any original content so far. He has felt that the renaming of the Hindi movie industry has become ‘Bollywood’ just because they have lacked in the production of some original and memorable content that would remain alive in the minds of the audience for long, as they used to produce earlier. “Makers also are producing things like that and the stories are also like that. The audience is lapping it up like fast food. That’s why Hindi cinema has gone towards what I would call ‘Bollywood’. We have started picking up films from everywhere else rather than creating our films .” retorted Sunny Deol.

If taken notice with much introspection, whatever Sunny Deol has said about the present generation of actors is almost true to a certain extent. Though it is an undeniable fact that in the present era, audiences would like to have before them a ‘hero’, who fits their modern idea of masculinity, still, we must not forget that there are still several successful actors, who do not conform to this idea of masculinity such as the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and obviously, Sunny Deol himself. These actors still enjoy a massive fan base throughout the country and even on an international level. Placing too much focus on physicality would steal off of an actor their talent to excel at their craft and evolve in this profession. With the false notion of looks perpetuating success in the industry, they fail to realize that it is their talent in acting that will speak for or against them in the court of the audience. A well-toned physique might be sufficient for grabbing attention but it is the power to bring life to the characters on the screen that measure the level of success for an actor by leaving a lasting impression on the minds of the audience.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Sunny Deol will be reprising his role of ‘Tara Singh’ in his ‘Gadar Part 2’.