Things haven't really been going too smoothly for Suniel Shetty. While his career seems to be in a state of flux, Suniel's domestic life has also been pretty turbulent.
His father suffered a paralytic stroke and his wife Mana too suddenly became paralysed from waist downwards.
"It was a ruptured back. Don't ask me how she got it. We're still wondering. Fortunately Mana had emergency surgery in the nick of time. Now she's back on her feet," Shetty said.
"My dad too is recovering fast. For a while I seemed to be going through the worst phase of my life. Fortunately the clouds have started lifting and my life too seems to be back on an even keel," Shetty told IANS.
To signal his bright phase, Suniel has just been signed to play the pivotal role of bandit Faiz Ali in J.P. Dutta's version of "Umrao Jaan".
Suniel is the third male lead for the film after Abhishek Bachchan and Arshad Warsi.
"I guess it's one of the signs of changing times in my life. To work with J.P. saab is almost like coming home for me. I can never say no to him. And he can never refuse me a role.
"I thoroughly enjoyed being part of his war trilogy 'Border', 'Refugee' and 'LOC'. And now I'm looking forward to seeing what JP does in a costume drama."
This would be Suniel's first film with Aishwarya Rai, not counting the ill-fated "Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke" where Suniel was paired with Ash for the first time.
"It was a really beautiful film... almost like an Indian 'Sound Of Music'. Shashilal Nair, one of my favourite directors, was doing it. And another huge favourite Gulzar saab had written lovely songs. I wish it hadn't been shelved. I'm glad I'm finally doing another film with Ash."
Suniel is doing a film with Priyadarshan, another favourite director, which UTV will produce, and Subhash Ghai's "Shaadi Se Pehle" directed by Satish Kaushik.
"Both are crazy, crazy films, absolutely endearing. The best thing is I don't have to worry about having a girl opposite me. I've reached a stage in my career where such considerations have become irrelevant."
About his last release, the ensemble curiosity "Chocolate", Suniel says:
"Sure, there were a whole of lot of us actors in the film. But each one of us had a definite role. I was certainly not there just for the heck of it.
"'Chocolate' was always aimed at a metropolitan audience. It cannot be seen as a mass-oriented film. I'm happy with the way it performed."
comment:
p_commentcount