'It was my money, sold my assets’ Sunny Deol on auction of Juhu home, Rs 56 cr debt and 3 failed directorial

It's Sunny Deol's 2.0 innings at the box office. After going through hardships for over a decade, Deol finally made a comeback with Gadar 2, released in 2023. But the actor had gone through several hardships in the decades before he got the biggest blockbuster of his career, and due to some of his decisions and setbacks, he found himself in debt of Rs 56 crore, which led to putting his Mumbai property under an e-auction notice.

Speaking about his financial difficulties, Deol revealed how, despite being in trouble with money, he never let the money dictate his choices during this period when he was in debt.

Sunny Deol on financial debt after producing films

Sunny has been part of several blockbuster movies. In the early 2000s, he had major releases such as Gadar and Indian. Both films did much better than Aamir Khan's Lagaan. But the crises that came in his career were not sudden, but they grew gradually.

“Along with Gadar, I also delivered Indian, which was a much bigger hit than Lagaan and all the other films of that time. It did two to three times of Lagaan’s business. Gadar did much more than that,” shared Sunny while speaking on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.

Speaking further, Sunny shared how with his 2005 action comedy Jo Bole So Nihaal, which faced huge backlash from the Sikh community.

“Suddenly, corporates came in, and the film industry’s format began changing,” Sunny shared before adding, “But after that, I don’t know why I wasn’t getting the right subjects and makers.”

“That film didn’t go too far because of politics. So, we had to withdraw it because of certain issues. These days, when politics is entering films, that should not happen. We’re not doing anything. We’re just entertainers. Anyone says anything rubbish outside of India, but there’s no censorship on that,” argued Sunny as he talked about the objections that his movie faced.

'I’m very happy. Even when I was in debt': Sunny Deol

Despite how much he was in debt while facing a decline in his career, Sunny shared that he was very happy and living his life.

“I can’t do so many things for money. But to be very honest, I’m very happy. Even when I was in debt, I was very happy. I was living my life,” he said.

Gadar 2 was a massive hit that no one saw coming. But after its release, Sunny’s Juhu property was put up for e-auction over non-payment of an outstanding debt and interest of Rs 55.99 crore.

“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 asset and pay back,” shared Sunny as he revealed that the bank decided to withdraw the notice after he had a talk about clearing the loan, which he took to produce his 2016 action film Ghayal Returns, which was Deol’s directorial comeback and sequel to his 1990 hit of the same name. But the movie failed miserably at the box office.

This was Sunny's third directorial after 1999 romantic drama Dillagi and the romantic film Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas. These two films also didn't do well at the box office.

“I don’t know why it didn’t work. So many people come up to me and say they loved Dillagi, but I can’t help it. I did what I wanted to, and gave my best. I always trust a person and move ahead rather than having doubts in my head. You need to be fully invested in everything — business, acting, and direction. So, it becomes very difficult to do all of them at the same time,” shared Sunny.

On the work front, Sunny's Batwara 1947 has been released in the theatres and is doing well.