Sonu Sood on ‘Simmba’: “Durva Ranade was always written for me”

Being one of the most anticipated films of the years, it seems Rohit Shetty has definitely lived up to the huge expectation that was ‘Simmba’ (2018). Not being a stranger to negative roles, the director places Sood as the villain. However, this time Sood’s character had many grey shades, casting a different impression on his audiences, then the types of bad guys he’s played before. Talking to the media, Soon expressed what this role means to him, and what it was like working with his co-stars.

“I always feel that destiny brings you to the place where you belong to. Durva Ranade was always written for me. On the first day, when we did the first shot, Rohit came, hugged me and said, ‘Durva is going to be big for you.’ Finally, it happened,” Pinkvilla reports the actor expressing.

There had been rumours of the likes of Abhishek Bachchan and R Madhavan being considered for the role, until Sood signed on the dotted line. Talking about his character, the actor went on to add, “Durva is not an out-and-out negative character. He fought for his brothers, who had a mother, a wife and a son. When you see the movie, you see the layers in his characters. Durva was challenging to play because you are playing an antagonist and yet, you are a family man who respects the people around him.”

“When the first show finished and people saw the screening, they said that they are in love with Durva and that’s the time you feel that your job is done, as an actor,” he went on.

‘Simmba’ (2018) was Shetty’s remake of the 2015 South Indian blockbuster ‘Temper’. When asked if he had taken any inspiration for his character from there, the actor expressed, “I didn’t see the movie. It has been directed by a very close friend of mine, Puri Jagannadh. I have done 3-4 movies with him but I knew that I never wanted to take any homework from the previous role that has been done by Prakash Raj. I wanted to give my own layers into the character and my own feelings. When you’ve seen a movie and are trying to make a remake out of the original, somewhere there are chances where you try to do something which is good, maybe done by another actor.”

He went on to say, “When people who have seen ‘Temper’ see ‘Simmba’, they should feel no comparisons or similarities to what is done by Prakash, who is a great actor. He must have done phenomenally well. I feel that Rohit had written this character of Durva Ranade which was totally different from what Prakash played. Prakash’s was an out-and-out negative character. Durva was a character who had emotions and turned out to be a positive one.”

During the shooting of the film, it became obvious that Sood developed a close relationship with the film’s makers and is co-stars. Through social media, there were a number of candid pictures posts of him and Shetty as well as him with lead actor Ranveer Singh. Talking about Singh, Sood expressed, “Ranveer is a great guy and we gelled well together. The bonding and chemistry we had on the sets, you can see it on-screen whenever we come face to face. We share a lot of common things. He’s also into fitness, like me. I always believe a blockbuster needs positive people on the sets and positive vibes. And, I’m glad Rohit, Sara, Ranveer, me and everyone were so positive about this project that you can see those vibes when you watch the film.”

Stay with BizAsiaLive.com for more.