Sunny Deol steered clear of making political statements while promoting his upcoming film ‘Batwara 1947’. When asked to share his views on Pakistan during a promotional event on Sunday, the actor responded cautiously and instead recalled a well-known remark made by his father, veteran actor Dharmendra, who had once described Pakistan as his “mausi” (maternal aunt).Responding to a question about the neighbouring country, Sunny first clarified that the film had not been shot across the border. He said, “Ye vahan par nahi shoot kiya hai, ye Hindustan me shoot kiya hai.”Explaining why he preferred not to enter political discussions, Sunny reflected on the shared history of India and Pakistan and quoted Dharmendra’s perspective.“Hum feel ki baatein nahi karte because pura mulk ek hi tha. Jaise papa ne kaha ki ye meri maa hai aur vo meri mausi hai – ye toh aap log sab achi tarah se jante hain. Hum sab ek tarah se hain toh jude hue kahin na kahin se.” (We don’t dwell on those differences because the whole country was once one. Like my father said, ‘She is my mother, and she is my aunt’, you all know that very well. In one way or another, we’re all connected to each other from somewhere.)Sunny further stressed that, as an actor, he prefers to focus on storytelling rather than political debates.“Main us sab me zyada jana nahi chahta lekin hum actors hain, we are makers. Hum kahaaniyaan chunte hain aur kahaaniyan banate hain. Usko phir hum yahan vahan, usko politically nahi le ke jate hain aur na jana chahte hain. Isilye main us sabki baat hi nahi karuga.” (I don’t want to get into all of that too much. We are actors; we are storytellers. We choose stories and bring them to life. We don’t take them here or there or turn them into political issues, nor do we want to. That’s why I don’t want to comment on any of it.)‘Batwara 1947’ features Karan Deol, Ali Fazal, and Abhimanyu Singh in key roles. The film also marks the long-awaited reunion of director Rajkumar Santoshi and Sunny Deol, who are collaborating again after nearly 30 years.
