Sunshine boy

Audiences may believe Pyaar Ka Punchnama2 (PKP 2) is this Punjabi lad’s debut movie but Sunny Singh Nijjar has done cameos in Akaash Vani and Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji. He swept over audiences by his role of the ‘hopeless in love’ Siddharth aka Chauka in PKP 2. Son of well-known action director Jai Singh Nijjar, Sunny admits that he wanted to be an actor ‘by hook or crook’. “I’ve struggled. I had no alternate career in mind. My father is part of the industry. But I wanted to do something on my own. I started with serials. Then I did theatre to polish myself. For the PKP 2 look test I waited for eight hours. There were 50 to 100 candidates competing for that part!”

He says he didn’t feel insecure to be in a multistarrer. “Pyaar Ka Punchnama is a brand. I knew the second installment would be bigger. We did workshops for over eight months.” Sunny admits it was overwhelming to watch this movie run to packed houses. “People recognise me in the streets now and ask for pictures. They could relate to my character, Chauka’s plight. One guy with a fractured hand came up to me and said, ‘Bro, you saved me. I had a confrontation in the police station with my girlfriend and we broke up, just like you in the movie. Mere haath pair toot gaye hain but please keep making movies like this!’” he laughs.

His dialogue from the movie, “Chal jhoothi!”, has become popular too. The way he delivered the line to his onscreen girlfriend (played by Sonnalli Seygall) before breaking up with her has touched a chord with the youngsters. “At a family wedding, the pheras were on and the panditji was chanting mantras, when one of my cousins yelled, ‘Chal jhoothi!’ It was a hilarious moment,” he smiles. He says his family loved the movie. “My mom regularly visits the gurudwara to pray for me. My father has invested in me emotionally. I want to do them proud.”

 Sonnalli and Sunny had a great working relationship. “She used to give me the cues. I also bonded well with Kartik (Aaryan) and Omkar (Kapoor). We’d would burst out laughing even before we had enacted the scene!” He feels close to his character Chauka. “I’m a Punjabi - so I’m a yaaron ka yaar type of guy like him. I was dating a girl when I was in college. She made me wait at an ice-cream parlour saying she’d join me after her dance rehearsals. An hour later when I stepped out I saw her walking away with some other guy!” he laughs at the adolescent memory.

Director Luv Ranjan believes in method says Sunny. “He’s like a big brother to us. He used to make us go for vacations and camping together. It was fun.” He goes on to share interesting incidents from the set. “While shooting the song Heeriye on a yacht, the boys had to jump into the sea without any life jacket. Kartik looked at me and I looked at Omkar saying, ‘Bhai, ab toh gaye.’ It was scary but the scene required it. The moment Luv Sir said ‘action’ we jumped!” He’s an industry kid but he knows that without talent you can’t survive. “It did help that people in the industry knew my father but nobody will sign you if you can’t act,” he says.

Talking about how PKP 2 has been labelled as a misogynistic movie, Sunny says, “Look, it’s an entertaining movie. When a person leaves the theatre with a hangover of the film, it means the movie has worked. People are watching it twice and thrice. Don’t worry girls, there will be a day when a movie will be made from your point of view,” he promises the fairer sex.

Talking about his favourite actors in the industry, Sunny says, “I love Akshay Kumar for his comic timing, Ajay Devgn’s intensity and Salman Khan’s style. I remember visiting the set of Kurbaan as a kid, in 1991. I met Salman there. He called me ‘beta’,” he recalls fondly. On a parting note Sunny has some advice for budding actors. “One must rehearse and devote time to the craft on a daily basis rather than waste time in hollow partying. That will give you the confidence to go for auditions,” he sums up.