By Sandeep Hattangadi | Sonu Sood shares how he helped people reach their homes Neha, I remember when we saw those visuals of all those migrants you know walking in millions, across the country, I think everyone was disturbed by seeing those visuals and I remember when we were giving food to almost 45,000 people every day. There’s a place in Thane called ‘Kalwa Chawk’ jahan par hum log khana de rahe the and I saw a group of people walking with little kids – 1 mahine ka, 2 mahine ke bacche ke sath and I said ‘Kahan jaa rahe hai?’, they said we are going to ‘Karnataka, 10 din lagenge aap 10 din ka khana de sakte ho aap humein?’ Toh maine kahan, 10 din? Can I try to get some permissions for you to go back, kahe ki nahi sir hoga nahi, aisa possible nahi hai. So maine kaise bhi convince karke hum logon ne usko ek jagah pe roka aur maine wahan se siddha Police station gaya aur maine bola ki Sir mujhe guidelines chahiye, I had to call for the guidelines of Maharashtra, maine Karnataka ki sari guidelines nikali.
Then I started making a roadmap, maine uss din pura din ghumke sari permissions nikali aur first time, maine agle din mein 350 logo ko Karnataka bheja. When they all left for Karnataka, I was in the bus and you know they had tears in the eyes and smiles on the faces, they said ki hume laga ke humlog shayad marr jate yahan par, aur who chale gaye wahan par aur jab main wapas aa raha tha, toh Thane se leke Andheri tak sirf migrants hi migrants hai road pe, bridges ke niche baithe, sab log baithe the. Mujhe laga ki humare films mein har cheez slow-motion ho jati hai, mujhe waise hi visuals dikhe ki yeh log who hai jo paidal chalne ke liye taiyaar hai. I need to stop this. Aur phir maine har state wise bola ke logo ko bhejna hai aur phir maine Orissa, Jharkand, Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, MP, aisi koi state nahi chodi jahan par logo ko nahi bheja
To the time when Sonu Sood received 78,000 calls in an hour on his toll-free number When we started this thing, we started on my own. Mujhe nahi pata tha ki main itne logo ko bhejne wala hoon, but jaise jaise log badhne shuru hue, 350 logo ne alag kisi logo number diya ki Sonu Sood hai who bhej dega. In 2-3 days my phone was ringing non-stop and I realized ki yeh kaise hoga kiase, inn logo ki jo ummedein hai, the kind of expectation they have from me, how am I going to live upto that? I was literally living at the Police Stations aur sab offices mein rehta tha aur kaisi agar UP ki aap baat karein itne hazaro districts hai aap baat kare Gonda, Pratapgarh, Basti, Bihar, hare ek office ke ADM, DM’s unke bhi mere paas number the, yahan ke har states ke bhare pade the.
Maine apne Chartered Accountants ko bulaya aur bola yaar tu ek kaam kar yeh lists banana shuru kar. There’s a very close friend of mine, her name is Neeti, maine bola ki Neeti, ek kaam kar, yeh bada hota jaa raha ha, isko kaise sambhalenge? Toh usne ek apna dost pakda IT ka, maine bola ki hum ek aisa IVR ka system banaege jahan pe hazaro calls aa sake phir maine ek toll-free number banaya. Ek ghante ke andar humare paas 78,000 calls aaye, 78000!
But jab who migrants ke liye maine woh toll-free number banaya toh usmein humare paas 1.5 days ke andar almost in 37-38 hours 7.5 lakh requests the, from Punjab, Kashmir se leke Kanyakumari tak, har jagah par log phase hue hai, Dhabon pe phse hue hai, Petrol pumps pe phase hue hai ke Sir hum yahan pe baithe hue hai – Sonipat pe Dhabe pe, humlog yahan pe 150 log hai sir, hume UP ke andar Basti mein jana hai, bataiye ab kaise jaenge. Maine bola ruk, main bhejta hoon. Dheere dheere jab log judne shuru hue, aap raatko so nahi sakte the, saari raat phone bajta tha aur mujhe pata hai ki main Police station mein hi baithe rehte the har jagah, aap chair pe bhi baithte hai, you used to feel scare yaa ki things sanitized hai ki nahi. I was on the road for
16-17 hours and I remember Wadala was a red zone, sabse zyada infected tha kyuki Dharawi wahan pe padta hai, main har rooz jane lag gaya tha wahan pe. Mujhe aise lagne lag gaya tha ki shayad main rehta hi inke bich mein hoon, mujhe lagta tha shayad yeh hi mera part hai, main jata tha ek police station ke paas 6000 log khade hue hai, intezaar kar rahe hai kab unka train ka number aaye, jaise mujhe dekhte the they used to rush towards me ke sir dekhiye chota sa bacha hai mere hath mein, 7-din ka bacha hai mujeh ghar bhej dijiye and you can’t say no to that person. Aap ki icha hoti hai ki aap isko gaadi mein bithao aur aap isko UP mein Bihar mein chodke aao. Main bolta hai kin ahi nahi rukiye, main karta hoon. Hum log buses lekar aate the wahan pe. I don’t know anyone by face. Main koi nahi jaanta ki kon aadmi kaisa hai. Sab mere liye 200 log UP ke 250 log UP ke. Jab aap aate ho toh unke sath 500 log aur khade hote hai and they say ki hume bhi jana hai. I don’t know ki mere wale kaunse log hai and you know we load them in the buses jo bahar kade rehte the Sir aapne humko bulaya tha, hum jane wale the, yeh log kaun ghus gaye? Agar hum unko niche aane bolenge, Sir aap aa jaye niche toh bolta tha ki dekhiye mera bacha hai main kahan jaunga, aap mujhe jane dijiye. So, you were so helpless ki yaar inko kaise bheju. Main bolta tha ki yaar don’t worry aap niche aa jaye, I’m getting more buses aur 50 buses bulate the, par unki permissions kahan se aayegi? But, I was in touch with every single district, every single bureaucrat, every single clerk in the office of every single state. Main bolta tha ki boss 2500 log aur khade hue hai
3 ghante mein mujhe permissions lani hai and kuch karta hoon. They used to click a picture of the email sent from senior PI to DCP office, maine 3 ghante mein un 2500 logo ki permissions nikali aur un logo ko bheja. And it was like a thing ki pura desh aapke liye bol raha hai unko ghar bhejo but bhejoge kaise? But, I think there was some force that was helping me to make things happen aur phir log jaate gaye, trains maine shuru karwani shuru ki, ki trains, I remember I was talking to Delhi officers, Railways, unka yeh kehna tha ki jab normal aap shootings karte hai tab trains mil jati hai but ab pandemic hai ismein alag guidelines hai. Trains nahi de sakte hai hum aapko.
Mujhe pata tha main ek train 2500 log ko bhej sakta hoon, buses mujhe 100 karni padegi 2500 logo ko bhejne ke liye. Badi mushkil se train ki permission nikali, I spoke to Bihar, I spoke to UP, I spoke to Calcutta, hare k state se main baatein karta tha aur vishwaas karo, kuch time mein 10-12 din mein aisa maahol ban gaya tha ki main ek phone karta tha buearaucrat, ‘Aree Sonu ji kya haal hai, kaise hai aap?’ Main kya sir ‘Mere 2000 log khade hue hai mujhe bhejna hai’.
‘Sir main abhi line-up karke deta hoon permisision’. Permissions aa jati thi log jane shuru hue and there was a time when 7000-8000 people we were sending a single day.
When the Police was in full support of Sonu Ya, of course ya. There was a huge support because they realized that I was working continuously for them and mujhe who bolte the ki ‘Sonu aap aise kaam karte ho jaise aapki family travel kar rahi hai. Woh aapko jaante bhi nahi hai, Kamaal Hai’. So, they were like my team members ki yaar Sonu aap bhejo hum karte hai fatafat. So, I would say ki who itna kamal ka mauhaal ban gaya tha, ‘Sir, kal itne log aa rahe hai,’, ‘Haan Sonu bhai, aap tension mat lijiye, aap form bhejiye, sab fatafat karke bhejte hai.’ So, I mean har roz challenges badalte jaa rahe, nayi nayi cheezein saamne aa rahi thi, guidelines badal rahi thi, States badal rahi thi, permissions cancel ho rahi thi. But, I think somehow we were able to manage and send all these people back to their homes.
When Sonu gets a 10/10 rating from the people and brands!
I’m not surprised, actually. I’ll tell you why, because there was a time when, jab maine shuruat ki, struggle ki jab shuruat hui toh you know you also have seen that phase main har roz Famous Studio jata tha jahan pe humare jaise 100 log khade hote the, main 2 ghante time wait karke mera ek audition ka number aata tha aur jaise hi number aata tha who ladki bolti thi ‘Aap jo ho na, aap suit nahi karte jo humara brand hai, uske hisaab se aap suit nahi karte. Maybe we’ll call you next time’. Toh main bolta tha ki maine pura din waste karke, train mein dhakke kha kar aaj audition dene aaya and you don’t have the courtesy to take a small audition who jitne brand ke maine audition diye the, who sare brands sign kiye abhi
Sonu Sood’s journey from Moga to Movies and how did it happen!
When I went to Nagpur for the first time, at that time Punjab was severely hit by terrorism and everyone felt that Punjab is not a safe place to stay, better to go to some other city. So, I went to Nagpur for my engineering. I did B.E in Electronics. I used to model there, those amateur fashion shows. But, then you know I thought why not try my luck in films and all and from there the whole journey started and I went to Film City and I thought I got my big break. When I reached Film City, there were 30 of another models, same built, with full bodies, solo ad nahi tha. Mujhe laga ki solo ad hai, star ban gaya hoon main. Mere jaise 25-30 log aur body-fit T-shirts pehen ke khade the aur mujhe bhi kahin kisi kone mein khada karke peeche main drum baja raha hoon, tribal bana kar aur main ad mein kahin dikhayi bhi nahi diya aaj tak. Maine bola boss zindagi ki jo struggle hai bahut mushkil hone wali hai yeh kuch life itni aasan nahi hai. Par main ek baat batana chahunga ki jo 3-3.5 saal maine lagatar auditions diye, ek bhi aaj tak mujhe ad nahi mili aur aaj take k bhi nahi mili toh mujhe laga ki yaar yeh Zindagi mein kuch aur karna padega
From 0-15 ads, Sonu Sood shares how many ads he’s shot for in this lockdown Mere pata nahi par maine 10-12 toh kar hi liye honge, 15 shayad kar liye honge. Abhi aur 10-15 aane wali hai. Ghar se nikla bhi toh main tha struggle karne ke liye
When Sonu Sood shares his first film offer Mujhe yaad hai, audition toh pata nahi mujhe lagta tha achi auditons hi dekar aa raha hoon but jab kaam hi nahi milta that toh lagta tha ki yeh shayad worst hi hai logon ke liye. Toh main toh badi achi acting karke aata tha mujhe lagta tha ki dekh main kya kaam karke aaya par kabhi kuch hua nahi. But, I’ll tell you ki mujhe jab first film mila tha South ka, mere mother ne mujhe ek book diya tha ‘How to learn Tamil’ main raaste bhar padhta gaya. Paani ko tanni bolte hai, idhar aane ko yeh bolte hai, sab notes votes leke gaye. Toh Vijay Vauhini Studio tha wahan pe Chennai mein. Toh AD ne bola aap jake baithiye hum aate hai wahan pe. Toh main baithke akela thoda feel sa liya actor ka ki main kya acha lag raha hai yahan pe chair pe baithke yahan pe Zindagi shuru hone wali hai. The director and the producer comes in and they say ki acha Sonu ji bahut acha, welcome to Chennai, aapki body-vody achi hai aap T-shirt utaar ke dekh sakte hai kya? Maine bola accha Sir utar sakte hai. Maine fatafat T-shirt utari, ha sir, acha hai, you are doing our movie, please. Toh maine bola ki picture mil gaya? Yes, Sir, mil gaya Sir. And I relaised ki Zindagi badalne wali hai aur uss samay pager hota tha mere paas. Miane fatafat jitne mere pager the logo ne, mere mother ne bola tha ki you know congratulations tera ho jaega everything and all, so, I just went to STD-PCO and maine sabko phone karke bataya ki maine film sign ki and that was, I still remember, uss din baarish ho rahi thi Chennai mein and that was one day I can never forget. Maine unn sab logo ko phone kiya jinko maine shayad kabhi baat bhi nahi kiya hoga par unko batane ke liye ki main films kar raha hoon, abhi main filmo mein aa gaya hoon. But, I think fro, there the journey as an actor started and then there’s still miles to go
Sonu Sood reminisces his initial days with Bollywood You know, I did Bhagat Singh was my first film aur Iqbal Singh Dhillon uske producer the aur jab maine who film sign ki, I remember, ki my grandfather used to study with Bhagat Singh in National College, Lahore. Maine bachpan mein kisse sune the aur History meri achi thi, bahut padha tha maine Bhagat Singh ke baare mein. I remember ki jab hum dialogues bolte the aur baat karte the ki Bhagat Singh is assembly mein iss taareek ko unhone bombs feke the, aur yeh kiya yha who kiya tha, mujhe waise hi yaad tha. Main jab dialogues bolta that oh mere director bolta tha aree nahi nahi sir ek minute, aapne kuch galat bola. Yeh aisa nahi hua tha, aisa hua tha and main kya sir nahi nahi aisa hua tha aap padhke dekhiye aur jab who dekhta tha who bolta tha nahi nahi sir bilkul aise hi hua tha, very good, very good, Sir, very good. I think who ek bada special experience tha mera Bhagat Singh ka aur uss samay teen Bhagat Singh aayi aur teeno ne Bhagat Singh jab aapas mein clash hue Box office mein, ek hi din, ek hi saath teeno posters lage hue the, maine bola Boss – panga bada le liya life ke andar but I think from there actually, the whole journey started. Mani Ratnam had seen Bhagat Singh and he casted me for Yuva, then Jodha Akbar happened, Aashiq Banaya Apne happened, and then my big break we did Sheesha, together.
Sonu Sood shares his secret on staying fit and healthy all along I feel all the hardwork that I did during my college days or during my struggle days that really helped me build that kind of mindset ki yaar nahi milega nahi kuch hoga. Maine aaj tak life mein kisi ko ghar pe nahi bola ki mere liye kya banao. Jo samne rakh diya theek hai, dal dedi de di, nahi di, nahi di. Now ab roti wagera band kar diya because awareness zyada aa chukka hai ki carbs hote hai, proteins. Pehle kuch pata nahi tha, desi-dhang se exercise karte the, workout karte the, bhaad-daud karte the. Abhi thodi zyada knowledge aa gayi hai, zyada disciplined ho gaye hai, to iss liye thoda farak zarur pada hai Zindagi mein. But, like I said if we are disciplined in what you do in your daily routine, what you eat, I think you can stay fit. You don’t really need to put those extra hours of workout and all. You just need to be disciplined throughout your life and not just for one film.
When Sonu Sood got into a film-like fighting sequence during his college days I was doing my BE in Electronics in YCC in Nagpur. So mere jitney bhi dost the, they were little notorious, jhagada karna, maar dhaad karna, thode iss type ke log the. So, main unko hamesha samjha tha ki jhagadha mat karo, koi rakha nahi jhagada, yaha pe padhai karne aaye hai, maa-baap ka naam roshan karne aaye hai so don’t get into all this. Lekin phir bhi unka kuch na kuch panga aur unke jhagade aise hote the ki talware nikal gayi and they sued to have these desi pistols leke aate the wahan pe. Uss tarah ke college ka, jaise hum films mein dekhte the waisa mauhal hota tha. And, I remember ki ek baar kuch bahut bada jhagada ho gaya aur main, because I was the peace maker toh main apne hostel mein baitha hua tha aur we were almost 150 guys who came with hockey sticks aur hostel mein aaye aur unhone mere room 10 tha unhone khola and they saw me ki main carrom khel raha hoon aur mere sath ek aur ladka tha. Toh unhone aise hi dekha ki maine palatke dekha ki yeh log hai and I realised ki there’s something not very safe which is going to happen in the hostel aur phir who log chale gaye aur mujhe ek ladka daudke aaya ki yaar mere room number ke saamne ladko ko bahut pitayi kar rahe hai, hockey sticks maar rahe hai. Sonu aap aayiye bachane ke liye. Jaise hi gaya wahan par, toh he said aap junior ho, aapko respect karna nahi aata? You have to 90 degrees se jhuk ke aapko salam karna padta hai. Toh main bola who toh nahi karunga and this guy had a hockey stick in his hand aur usne puri takat se mere face pe hockey stick maara. Jaise hi mara, the blood started coming from my eye and maine ekdum aise palat ke dekha, mirror tha saamne aur mujhe laga pura face mera blood se bhar gaya and I said isne toh chehra kharab kar diya mera abhi toh Zindagi kharab ho gayi and I started, main ekdum maarne lag gaya and all these 20-30 guys came in that room and unhone de-dhadad hockey sticks pakad ke baitha hoon aur mara unhone khoob mujhe, aur maine bola beta abhi chodunga nahi. Exam tha and I remember I missed my exam the next day and maine
150 hume raat ko ikkhata kiya and on the bikes we sat altogether and humne ek ek jo dusre group wale ladke the ek ek ko humne nikal nikal ke pita aur wahan se sab bhage aur agle din police dhundh rahi thi hum logo ko ki boss kidhar gaya. So hum log paanch din wahan par nahi aaye and it was kamaal tha who kamaal tha.
When Sonu Sood shares a stunt faux pas while shooting with Neha Dhupia Mujhe lagta hai ki tere sath hi tha jo tune kiya tha mere sath. You remember? How can you forget that? Main sabko batana chahta hoon, puri duniya ke saamne ki ek stunt tha, we were doing this film called ‘Sheesha’. Pura highway, busy highway tha usmein ek shot tha, toh uske andar Neha ki jo gaadi hai uski brake fail ho gayi hai aur she is on the highway aur main bike pe aata hoon and I’m chasing the car on the bike and suddenly, from the bike I’m supposed to jump into the car, the moving car. I spoke to my director, and my action director and I said I will do this stunt but there shouldn’t be any cut. Aise nahi ki achanak jump kiya toh close mein cut le liya aisa nahi. It will be a single shot. The camera was mounted on a truck which was moving ahead of the car, Neha is on the car and the camera is there and I chase the car and I come next to car and I jump into the car and the bike topples away on the highway. Remember that shot, Neha? And, I was ready and action and roll and Neha ki gaadi chal rahi hai, drive kar rahi hai, main bike se full speed pe jaa raha hoon and I’m all set to jump. Maine ek hi cheez boli hai Neha ko ki tu gaadi ko ek pace pe rakhna aisa na ho ki main jump karu aur gaadi aage nikal jaye aur main neeche ho jau. Toh, Neha jitni kamal ki driver hai who uss din mujhe pata chala ki achanak jaise main jump karne lagta hoon, gaadi aage nikal rahi hai, gaadi kabhi piche jaa rahi hai. Toh merko laga ki aaj boss, nahi hone wala hai stunt. But, somehow, she managed and I jumped from the bike into the car and the stunt was fabulous.
What would be the logo of Sonu’s party be, if he made one?
Ek Dumbbell hoga
And the name of the party?
6-pack party
Super-powers of the celebrities!
Farah Khan’s superpower according to Sonu She doesn’t need a mic to scold you. Aur usko bolne ke liye uski aawaz jo agar Mumbai se aawaz degi toh Punjab tak gaali sunayi degi Akshay Kumar’s superpower according to Sonu Note badi teezi se ginta hai yaar. Jtne paise kamata hai who dhad dhad dhad dhad…aur usne mujhe lagta hai counting machine bhi li hogi. Badi slow ginta hai, isse hatao piche, aane de isse. Punjab wala desi style lagaya aur tad tad tad tad Anurag Kashyap’s superpower according to Sonu Ki who film ke liye promise karta hai, uske baad gayab ho jata hai.
Main usko bada chedta hoon. Bahut saal pehle ek film ban rahi thi
‘Gulaal’ uske andar bada kamaal ka role diya ‘Sonu, yeh tu hi kar sakta hai, koi nahi kar sakta’. Script aaya mere paas maine bola badi tayari ki, uske baad Anurag gayab ho gaya. Pata laga Gulaal ban bhi gayi kisi aur ke sath. Script yaar usko bolta hoon, aaj bhi mere paas pada hua hai Salman Khan’s superpower according to Sonu Tractor bada kamaal chalate hai. Mujhe itna pata nahi tha ki who tractor chalate hai and lately I saw all those visuals of him riding a tractor, mujhe lagta hai ki Salman Bhai ke baju mein baithke thodi kheti-badi karni chahiye mujhe
Shopping or acting – what would Sonu Sood choose Shopping choose, acting lose. Tereko yaad hoga ki hum mall bandh karake aate the. Baaki sab log jhooth bolte hai Farah or Anurag – who would Sonu Sood choose?
Farah