Before the release of 2023’s Gadar 2, actor Sunny Deol was going through a difficult phase financially. He was under massive debt with interest amounting to Rs 55.99 crore. The bank had also issued an e-auction notice for Sunny’s Juhu property.
The actor, in a recent podcast, candidly reflected on that challenging period, revealing that despite being in debt, he never allowed financial difficulties to take away his happiness or dictate his choices.
“I can’t do so many things for money. But to be very honest, I am very happy. Even when I was in debt, I was very happy. I was living my life,” he said in a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra.
He also clarified that the debt was connected to his own financial commitments and he had not borrowed money from anyone personally. “The money I owed was all mine. I didn’t borrow it from anyone. I didn’t owe anyone anything. I just had to sell my own assets and pay back,” he said
The financial strain came during a period when Sunny was also trying to establish himself as a filmmaker. The 2016 film Ghayal Once Again was his second directorial venture after Dillagi (1999) which featured him alongside his brother Bobby Deol. He later directed Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019), which marked the debut of his son Karan Deol. None of the three films, however, could manage to make a significant impact at the box office.
Looking back at his career, Sunny also spoke about the dramatic shift that followed the success of his films in the early 2000s. He particularly remembered 2001, when Gadar released alongside Aamir Khan’s Lagaan and went on to become a major blockbuster. He also pointed to the success of Indian, which released later that year
Despite delivering major hits, Sunny said he soon found himself struggling to get the kind of subjects and filmmakers he wanted to work with. He attributed part of the change to the arrival of corporate studios and the evolving structure of the Hindi film industry. “Suddenly, corporates came in, and the film industry’s format began changing. But after that, I don’t know why I wasn’t getting the right subjects and makers,” he said.
The success of Gadar 2 in 2023, however, marked a major turnaround, bringing Sunny back into the commercial spotlight. He followed it up with Jaat (2025) and Border 2 (2026) which both performed well at the box office.
Sunny is currently seen in Batwara 1947, a Partition drama featuring Preity Zinta, Ali Fazal, Shabana Azmi and Karan Deol, amongst others.
