Sunny Deol Reveals He Was ₹56 Crore in Debt Before Gadar 2: ‘Even When I Was in Debt, I Was Very Happy’

Sunny Deol has opened up about one of the most difficult financial phases of his career, revealing that he was facing debt of nearly ₹56 crore before the blockbuster success of Gadar 2 changed his fortunes in 2023.

In a candid conversation with Shubhankar Mishra, the veteran actor reflected on the years when his career struggled to find the same momentum it had enjoyed around the turn of the millennium.

Despite delivering major hits such as Gadar and Indian in 2001, Sunny said he gradually found himself receiving fewer projects that matched his expectations.

Looking back at that period, however, the actor insisted that financial difficulties did not stop him from enjoying his life.“Even when I was in debt, I was very happy. I was living my life,” Sunny said.

Sunny Deol recalls the Gadar and Indian success

Sunny’s career was at an extraordinary high in 2001.

Gadar: Ek Prem Katha became one of the year’s biggest blockbusters and was released alongside Aamir Khan’s Lagaan.

According to figures cited by Sunny, Gadar earned around ₹77 crore domestically, while Lagaan collected approximately ₹34 crore in India.

Sunny also delivered another major success that year with Indian, which he said earned around ₹43 crore domestically.

The actor recalled that both films performed exceptionally well, but the success did not lead to a sustained run of equally strong projects.“Suddenly, corporates came in, and the film industry’s format began changing,” he said.

Sunny added that he could not understand why he was no longer getting the right subjects and filmmakers despite his earlier successes.

Financial pressure increased after production ventures

The slowdown in his acting career was accompanied by financial pressure, particularly as Sunny began taking on responsibilities beyond acting.

He directed and produced several projects, including Ghayal Returns, which he also starred in and directed.

The film, released in 2016, was made with Sunny taking a loan, and the financial burden eventually became a major issue.

In 2023, shortly after Gadar 2 opened to massive numbers, a bank issued an e-auction notice concerning Sunny Villa, his property in Mumbai’s Juhu, over outstanding dues and interest reportedly amounting to around ₹55.99 crore.

The notice was later withdrawn after an agreement to settle the outstanding amount.

‘The money I owed was all mine’

Sunny made it clear that he did not view the debt as money borrowed from friends or other individuals.“The money I owed was all mine. I didn’t borrow it from anyone. I didn’t owe anyone anything.”

The actor said his plan was simply to sell his own asset and repay what he owed.

His comments also underline the extent to which his financial problems were connected to his own filmmaking ventures rather than merely his acting career.

Three films behind the camera

Sunny Deol’s experiments as a director stretched across several years.

He made his directorial debut with Dillagi in 1999, starring alongside his brother Bobby Deol.

He later directed Ghayal Returns, followed by Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas in 2019. The latter also marked the acting debut of his son Karan Deol.

However, none of the three films delivered the kind of commercial success Sunny had hoped for.

Speaking about Dillagi, the actor admitted that he still does not fully understand why the film failed at the box office.“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.”

Sunny says money was never everything

Despite the financial setbacks, Sunny said he has never been someone who could make every professional decision purely for money.“I can’t do so many things for money.”

The actor also suggested that trying to manage acting, business responsibilities and direction simultaneously can become extremely difficult.

For Sunny, the willingness to pursue projects he believed in came with risks — and some of those decisions eventually created financial pressure.

Yet he says he remained happy even during the toughest period.

Gadar 2 changed everything

Sunny’s career received an extraordinary revival with Gadar 2 in 2023.

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The sequel became a major box-office success and brought the actor back into the centre of mainstream Bollywood conversation.

More importantly, the success opened the door to a new phase of his career.

Sunny subsequently appeared in projects including Jaat, Border 2 and Ikkis, with filmmakers and producers once again showing confidence in the veteran star.

The success also helped revive his long-awaited collaboration with filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi.

Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi reunite after three decades

Sunny and Santoshi previously worked together on acclaimed films including Ghayal, Damini and Ghatak.

However, according to Sunny, producers had been reluctant for years to finance another project featuring the actor-director combination.

That changed after the success of Gadar 2.

Aamir Khan eventually approached Sunny for Santoshi’s Batwara 1947, a project that had reportedly been in development for many years.

Sunny said the story had been with the team since 2010, but Aamir’s interest helped move the project forward.

The film ultimately brought Sunny and Santoshi together again after around three decades.

Batwara 1947 faces a slower box-office start

Despite the enormous momentum behind Sunny Deol following Gadar 2, Batwara 1947 has not managed to replicate the commercial impact of his recent blockbusters.

The film reportedly collected around ₹26.50 crore domestically over its opening weekend, a figure that remains below the opening-day collection of Border 2.

That contrast highlights the unpredictable nature of the film business something Sunny knows particularly well after experiencing both extraordinary success and prolonged struggles.

From the massive success of Gadar and Indian to failed directorial ventures, mounting debt and finally the spectacular comeback of Gadar 2, Sunny Deol’s career has gone through several dramatic turns.

And his latest revelation suggests that even during the years when the numbers were not working in his favour, the actor never believed that financial success alone should determine how he lived his life.