Sunny Deol in the eye of a storm: Accused of cheating, forgery, lies by film producers

Sunny Deol has been accused of dishonouring many film obligations after accepting advance payments, especially after the success of Gadar 2.

Film producer Sorav Gupta (of Sundawn Entertainment Pvt Ltd) has accused actor-MP Sunny Deol of cheating, extortion, and forgery. In a press conference earlier this week, Gupta, a real estate developer turned producer, claimed that Sunny Deol took money from him in advance to do a film in 2016, continued to take more money while promising to start the film, but never finished it after his recent film Gadar 2 became a huge success.

Gupta told HT City that in 2016, he signed an agreement with Sunny Deol to play the lead in his film for ₹4 crore. “We gave him ₹1cr in advance, but he chose to shoot Poster Boys (2017) instead.” He kept demanding for additional money, and my ₹2.55cr is currently in Sunny ji’s account. He also required me to give money to another filmmaker, book Filmistaan studio, and hire an executive producer,” Gupta explains.

Also read: Sunny Deol opens up about his job struggles, and Bobby Deol cries on The Great Indian Kapil Show. Watch

The producer also claims that Deol and his company reached an agreement in 2023. “When we read the agreement, humne dekha ki unhonein toh panna hi change kar diya beech wala, jahan par fees ka amount ₹4cr ko badha kar ₹8cr kar diya aur profit to ₹2cr kar diya,” he says.

Suneel Darshan, a filmmaker known for films including as Janwar (1999) and Andaaz (2003), also spoke out in favor of Gupta during the same press conference, claiming that he, too, had encountered the same difficulty with Sunny Deol. “Sunny Deol purchased rights to my film Ajay (1996) for international release but only made a half payment. The balance payment never arrived,” says Darshan, adding, “Later, Sunny asked me to embark on a project with him, saying, ‘Have faith in me, help me out’, and got me to pay him again.”

Also read: Sunny Deol’s Juhu mansion is not for sale right now. What exactly is the point of contention?

According to an industry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Deol has a history of breaking promises to producers after signing agreements. “He has been a notorious troublemaker for years. Sunny had delivered a bound script for the film Ram Janmbhumi to a producer, who built a massive set in Mumbai. Sunny signed the project for ₹5 crores. However, he then refused to appear to the sets and sought a price of ₹25cr for delivering a blockbuster (Gadar 2, 2023).

Gupta says he filed a police report against Deol. “On April 30, the police issued a notice to Deol. According to Gupta, his office sent him a letter stating that he would be out of town on the day he was supposed to present himself.
We contacted Sunny Deol for his side, but received no response.