The one thing any and everyone who has worked with Sunny Leone will tell you is that she is “extremely professional”. And I experienced this hyper professionalism from the moment I called the 30-something actress’s husband and manager Daniel Weber. Courteous but very businesslike, Daniel asked all the right questions before inviting me to the couple’s apartment in Juhu recently. 

I have to confess, I didn’t really know what to expect when I walked into their plush all-white living room. Not having interacted with Sunny or seen any of her Hindi films or TV shows, all my perceptions were based on what she did before she landed on desi shores. Only if you’ve been living under the proverbial rock would you not know that Sunny was a big adult movie star. Born Karenjit Kaur Vohra, she was the Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003 and Maxim named her one of the Top 12 porn stars of 2010.

In a span of just four years, Sunny seems to have seamlessly transitioned from being a porn star to a Bollywood starlet. In such a conservative country, she seems to have found fans beyond her core audience.

This promises to be an important year for Sunny. She has four films lined up —  Friday’s Ek Paheli Leela, then Mastizaade, Kuch Kuch Locha Hai and Tina And Lolo. As an actress, Sunny describes herself as a “work in progress”. “With each film and song, I get a little bit better. Every director and producer has a different way of working. Like for Ragini MMS 2, they had a weeklong workshop with all the actors and I really enjoyed that process. For Mastizaade, we sat together for a week to go through the lines,” she adds. 

t2 met the actress on a rare day away from the sets. “But she has to step out for a meeting in an hour,” Daniel informs as Sunny walks into the room. She is dressed in a blush pink bodycon dress, with a full face of make-up and big hair. Over the next hour, Sunny is charming but all-business, smart and a little dorky (she snorted... yes, she did!) as she chatted about her past, how Bollywood is treating her, and how she explains her acceptance by the Indian audience.
 

Everyone has this image of Sunny Leone. How similar are you to the image people have?

I am the complete opposite of what people think of me. Like, I am not dressed up like this normally. I don’t walk round in high heels and sexy clothes. I am dorky! (Laughs) I am not a sex kitten. Maybe to my husband I am.... I like sports and I am super clumsy. I fall and trip all the time. 

How would you describe the real Sunny Leone?

I am someone who lives every day how I want to live it. I don’t care about what other people think. I am very protective about people in my life. I play a lot of sports. Today, a part of my workout was boxing. When I get a chance, I surf. I used to play soccer, street hockey and basketball. When I am in the US, I go hiking. I am also a homebody. I don’t party. I prefer going for nice dinners instead. I don’t like large groups of people. The only time I go out for large social gatherings is work related. Ya… that’s me.

What was your childhood in Canada like?

I grew up in a very typical traditional Punjabi migrant family in Ontario. My dad’s from Chandigarh and my mom’s from Himachal Pradesh. My dad was an engineer. We ate Punjabi food, Sunday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday were pizza nights. My parents made sure that we knew about our culture, so we watched Bollywood movies, went to the gurdwara every Saturday and Sunday. We’d watch films together as  a family once a week. 

What are your earliest memories of Bollywood films?

One of my favourite movies growing up was Dil with Aamir (Khan) and Madhuri (Dixit).
 
What was your journey from such a traditional home to the porn industry like?

Despite growing up in a traditional home, I was very independent. I was the girl who’d go door-to-door to raise money for the basketball team or had a lemonade stand in the summer and shovelled snow in the winters. I was always very enterprising. Through my high school years, I knew that I wanted to own a business. I just didn’t know what it would be. Someone at some point said that I should model. I didn’t even think that was even possible. As soon as I turned 18, I met an agent who wanted to make one of those late-night movies for TV. It wasn’t an adult movie, but it was still very sexy. It must have been an ‘X’ or ‘XX’ film. Slowly, I made my way from that to the ‘XXX’ films. Very early in my life I realised that the less I did, the more money I had. 

Then I started my own website. I learnt web design and editing videos and how to increase traffic. That’s how my business started. I didn’t think of it as porn or anything bad… for me, it was a business and nothing more. I learnt that if I owned the content, I would make more money. And if I was doing what I was doing, I might as well make every single penny there was to make. 

There is a certain stigma attached to the business you were in. Did you have any second thoughts?

When I met my first agent, I had never seen an adult film or even magazine. I had no idea about this industry. But when I was introduced to it, I realised that it was very lucrative. I could continue doing what I wanted to and still make lots of money on the side. I was always very comfortable with my body. I might have grown up wearing conservative clothes, but in my mind I was a lot freer.

How did your parents take it?

I told my parents what I did only much later. I didn’t want them to hear about it from a relative or a family friend. I remember I was really scared… I didn’t eat all week. With time, they stopped being upset because I was their baby girl. I don’t think parents ever stop loving their children… no matter what. They had to mentally adjust to what I did... and they did. 

When did you meet Daniel? 

It was a little over six years ago. I was at a convention and he was playing there with his band (The Disparrows). His lead vocalist introduced us.
 
Did sparks fly immediately?

(Laughs) I think for Daniel they did. I was newly single, so I wasn’t looking to get into another relationship immediately. I was single after a very long time, so I wanted to explore and go out and party... but it all came to a screeching halt! (Giggles) On our first date, we sat in a restaurant for about three hours… just chatting. We didn’t even open the menu because we were so engrossed in each other. It was a crazy, amazing feeling when the whole world disappears because you are so into that one person. We were together for about three years before we got married. 

Did he know what you did for a living?

I don’t think he knew who I was before we met but obviously he knew after. (Pauses) There is a huge misconception that I have worked with a million guys, but I haven’t. I worked with a few close friends of mine and when I met Daniel, that was it…. Being in a monogamous relationship was more important for us than chasing after a couple of bucks. We started our own company (Sunlust Pictures) and got involved in producing adult films. 

Daniel is also your manager. How does he deal with the insecurity that comes with being married to someone desired by so many?

Since we met, he knew what he was getting into. But my husband is very good-looking. He is very confident and secure about himself and our relationship. I adore him. He is the sweetest and most loving man I have ever met. He takes care of our whole world. Honestly, I don’t think I could even think of anyone else. He is the anchor… the captain of my ship… he is everything. He allows me to be Sunny. If it wasn’t for him, Sunny Leone wouldn’t function. He has always believed in me and pushed me to try new things. 

How did Bigg Boss 5 happen?

I didn’t know about the show at all. Daniel told me that Big Brother’s Indian version Bigg Boss wanted me. My first reaction was: ‘Are you out of your mind?’ There was no way I was going to do something like this in India because I thought I would be verbally bashed. I thought this because I had posed for Penthouse magazine as a 20-year-old and I got so much hate mail from the Indian community. I was called every single name in the book. It was a very traumatising experience. 

A week later, Daniel asked me again. I watched a couple of episodes of Bigg Boss and did some research about the show. It felt silly to say ‘no’ to an opportunity that might lead to bigger things. I figured I’d be in India for maybe a week. Getting a big chunk of money for such a short time couldn’t be bad. I could use it as down payment for a house.

Endemol (the producers of Bigg Boss) and Colors took the biggest risk ever to get me on the show. Even before I had landed in India, they started getting a lot of hate from people. I think people expected me to be different from who they saw on the show. I was just being me. I was lucky that I had more people liking me than hating me. 
When I landed in Mumbai, it was the craziest scene ever. There were so many people and reporters… I had never seen anything like that in my whole life. I couldn’t even walk to the car! 

How much do you credit the show for changing your life?

Oh... completely! The show steered me towards a direction I had always dreamt of. See, I have goosebumps when I talk about this. I can’t even thank the show, Salman (Khan, Bigg Boss host) and Colors enough. Look, I am living here… there are times when I look around and wonder: ‘How did I get there?’

When (Mahesh) Bhatt saab offered me a film (Jism 2) on the show, I didn’t believe him. I thought it was a publicity thing. And then when I got out of the house, I realised he wasn’t joking!

Do you remember the first day of being a Bollywood actress?

I was obviously very nervous. I knew that Bhatt saab and Pooja (Bhatt, who directed Jism 2) would have lots of patience with me and thankfully, I was right. It’s not easy to speak the language you don’t know or when you don’t understand the finer points of filmmaking. Before we started shooting, Pooja and Bhatt saab had hired a diction coach for me. They also had the assistant directors rehearse with me for about two weeks.
 
You’ve been here for a little more than four years. Do you feel more settled in India now?

I love it here. I am so happy with my life in India. I feel very fortunate to be in this position and I’ll take it for as long as it lasts. If it all ends tomorrow, I’ll still be happy that I said ‘yes’ to the jobs I wanted to. I worked with nice people.
 
Have you figured out how to work the ways of Bollywood?

It’s all trial and error. It is a different world than what my husband and I come from. But it’s interesting. We learn something new about the industry every single day. Basics of business are always the same, but how people function and behave is so different. Most of the time, we try not to think of what’s right or wrong. Everyone has their own opinion of how I should take my career forward. I appreciate that they care enough to tell me, but at the end of the day, Daniel and I make the decisions that are right for us.

Jism 2 was the first time I had worked for someone since I was 18. At 18, I had started my own company, so I was my own boss and I did my own thing. I had to learn what it is like to work for someone else. It was a mental switch-around. I had to learn how to let go of control. Over a period of time, I have learnt to zip it.
 
You have been in Bollywood for about three years now. Do you feel more accepted by the industry?

Errm… I don’t know. I feel accepted among people who want to work with me. But among the fraternity, not so much. I think there are still a lot of people who are trying to figure me out. I know that I am a topic of discussion among several groups of people. But if I were in a room with Bollywood stars, I guess one or two of them might talk to me. I am just two movies old and at the end of the day, it’s all about numbers. If I can deliver hits, people’s perception about me might change.
 
You think they are prejudiced about you?

I think they are more curious about me. There could be people who are scared about casting me because they think there would be a backlash. All I can say to them is that I show up on time and do my job. If you are willing to take the risk, I’ll give my 110 per cent.... I think this year should change how people see me. 

How do you deal with what you just called the ‘backlash’?

It really depends on what is being written. Of course, my feelings are hurt… I am human. I don’t care about the jokes and memes, but when people write untrue things it hurts. The videos of boys dressing up as girls and dancing to Baby doll was so funny. 

How do you explain that the Indian audience, where a majority of people rarely talk about sex openly, has accepted you?

Before I was in Bigg Boss, talking about Sunny Leone was forbidden. After the show, it became okay. If you ask an Indian man how long he has known me, it could be a lot longer than I have been in this industry. Families, children, naana-naanis and aunties watched me every day on the show… I would be chopping onions or washing clothes, acting like an idiot and learning Hindi…in their heads, the adult-industry Sunny is not the Sunny they watched on Bigg Boss. These two Sunnys don’t exist in the same world.... Kids watch Baby doll and get excited and they have no clue about what I did before this. 

The people behind The Howard Stern Show in the US did a study about his viewership a few years ago. According to the result, people who hated him watched his show more than the people who liked him. This phenomenon might be true for me as well. People who don’t like me pay more attention to me than those who do. It’s like when you can’t stop watching a train-wreck even when you don’t want to. 

What has been your craziest fan experience in India?

At the airport, this young man started hyperventilating when I agreed to take a picture with him. It took us a couple of minutes to calm him down! (Laughs) It was really cute because he was laughing and crying and sweating… it was all happening to him. 

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Every time I have made plans for the future, the complete opposite has happened.... I hope I am still working here. I also hope to be a mother. If Bollywood doesn’t work out, I know Daniel and I will figure out another business to move to. 

SUNNY’S BOLLY INNINGS

• Jism 2 
  Sunny debuted —  playing a pornstar! — in this Pooja Bhatt average earner, co-starring Randeep Hooda and Arunoday Singh. 
• Jackpot
  She preened and pouted and showed a lot of skin in this Kaizad Gustad box-office turkey. But she did get to share screen space with Naseeruddin Shah!
• Ragini MMS 2
  Sunny’s first big hit relied on ‘horrex’ — horror+sex — to rake in the big bucks. Baby doll proved that she’s sone di, after all.

Karishma Upadhyay
Adult Sunny or Bolly Sunny — who do you like and why? 
Tell t2@abp.in