In an exclusive conversation with The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha, the ‘Messiah of the needy’, Sonu Sood, not only spoke about his philanthropic efforts but also shared some exclusive details about his upcoming film Fateh, and MTV Roadies season 16.
Being humble is way cooler than being famous, they say. But today, our celeb, the guest of this week’s ‘Celeb Talk’ is the epitome of not only ‘famous’ but ‘humble’ too. With his courteous efforts, now we all know him as a ‘Real Hero’.
Yes! We have with us Sonu Sood, who is just not an actor, and a producer, but also a humanitarian and philanthropist. No surprise to the fact when we say, he is one of the most loved actors in the Indian film industry, and why not? He’s been the ‘Messiah’ in the true sense for many indigent people out there during the pandemic. Not to forget, he’s still relentlessly working for anyone in need.
Yes! Sonu Sood is here with us, and he’s not only an actor or a producer—he’s also a humanitarian and philanthropist. It comes as no surprise that he is one of the most adored performers in the Indian cinema industry, and why not? For many indigent people who were out there during the pandemic, he served as the “Messiah” in the truest sense. Not to forget, he still continues to work tirelessly for anyone in need.
Being someone’s hope is the best thing you can do, and the Dabangg star has been that hope for many people, changing their lives miraculously. He considers this to be his greatest blessing. “My mom used to always say ‘Your life will only change when you can change the life of others.’ Helping out people during the pandemic was just not a phase, but I’m going to continue throughout my life on a bigger scale. I feel blessed that god choose me to do this, and I promise to continue doing it,” enthused the good samaritan, who also believes that his family’s support has kept him on his toes, and to bring a smile on a needy face.
Life as an actor revolves around three things: Lights, Camera, Action. The renowned Canadian actor Corey Him believed it too, as he once said, “I always thought acting was all lights, camera, action. It’s a job; you have to do your job correctly.” Not only did the veteran Canadian actor, but many actors believed this too, and so did the Bangaru Babu actor. But the pandemic made him realise something beyond. Let’s hear what it was from the Ramaiya Vastavaiya actor himself, “During the pandemic, I felt that what I could do was just an awakening call in my life. Sometimes you find a purpose and that’s what happened with me. I always thought life is all about ‘light, camera, action’ but I realised it’s no light, no camera but just action. I think the kind of love that I got from my fans kept me going, kept me on my toes and I think that was the most special phase of my life and it’s always going to remain the most special one.”
At present, he is on a mission to ‘Fateh’ (make a win) against the crime that takes place in the cyber world. His upcoming film Fateh is one of the most-awaited films of the actor for all the right reasons. The film, which also stars Jacqueline Fernandez, Shivjyoti Rajput, and Vijay Raaz in key roles, is based on real-life incidents, and the cast and crew have already begun shooting for the film. Now, this film is going to be pretty special for the actor not only because of its plot but also because he is going to make his debut as the writer of the film.
Taking us through the story behind making a film like Fateh, the Jodha Akbar actor shared, “Fateh carries a lot of real stories of cyber crimes that people went through while connecting with me and tried reaching out to me for medical help, jobs, and education.”
During the pandemic, there were some cyber thugs who simply pretended to be members of the foundation to steal money from people while he was trying to aid the underprivileged through his Sood Charity Foundation.
“People who were attempting to contact me have encountered a number of false links and apps that they were unaware of, making them the victims of online scams. We registered over hundreds of FIRs from all throughout the nation. Although we paid them compensation and had them treated, I believe the lesson is extremely clear: cyber fraud is all around us, and we must exercise extreme caution. That is why I wanted to write that tale down so that I could highlight how crucial it is to raise awareness of cybercrime and the threat it poses in the next years. The conflict is not fought with firearms but rather through cybercrime, whereby the people are going to get cheated, the country is going to get cheated and targeted through the cyber crimes,” added the ‘Super’ star, who had also connected with research teams like EU company based out of Malaysia, dealing with cyber crimes, cyber frauds and are making ethical hackers, who are the protectors against the cyber crimes.
Not only that, but he just launched a scholarship by the organization, worth more than a crore, with the same objective to bring forth more and more protectors against cyber crimes. “Through the scholarship, many people will get to learn about ethical hacking so that more and more people can come and protect people getting cheated,” remarked the Fateh actor, who plays a positive role, the kind of a guy who protects people from all these crimes happening.
The Shootout at Wadala actor, who has made a name for himself not only in the Bollywood industry but also in the South, told us that he plans to keep working there. However, due to the several Bollywood projects on his plate right now, he seldom has any free time. “I’ll be playing a few leads that I’ve always wanted to. These days, I make sure to only select roles that excite me and make me feel good about myself as an actor. I make sure it needs to be really impactful so that it should be worth every single rupee that people spend to watch me in the theatres,” remarked the R… Rajkumar actor, who is also going to be seen hosting season 16 of the youth-based reality show MTV Roadies.
Oh! So all the MTV maniacs, how could we not ask on behalf of you’ll what the upcoming season is going to be all about? While the upcoming season has already become the talk of the town with the makers introducing the Jalebi actress Rhea Chakraborty as a gang leader, our host of the show has a lot more to bring for all of us.
After hosting MTV Roadies Journey in South Africa Season 18 with such an adept, he is all excited for the upcoming season.
As we were all excited just like you to know about the season, ending the conversation on a brighter note, he gleefully signed off saying, “Roadies season 19 is going to be very special. There are a lot of format changes from last year. We wanted to bring a certain kind of positivity so that people can fight less, which is a big game changer this season. I loved the wholly positive impact that MTV Roadies have and this year we have added a few things that it’s going to be a wait-and-watch thing for everyone when we start shooting and will make something very exciting and challenging. This season is going to be different from previous seasons because there are a lot of effort put this time into making the season something very new and has got the essence of old Roadies also and something that’s going to drive people to come and give auditions so that we can get new talents.”
