MUMBAI: Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt, who participated in this year’s Bigg Boss OTT 2, recently opened up about how she wanted to cast Sunny Leone in Jism (2003) opposite John Abraham, before she finalised Bipasha Basu for the role. 

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In an interview, Pooja said that Sunny was still busy working as an adult entertainer back then, and could not dishonour her contract.

Talking to Siddharth Kannan, Pooja revealed, “I wanted to cast Sunny Leone in Jism part 1. Before meeting Bipasha (Basu) I had read about Sunny Leone. A publication had written a small snippet on her, it said, ‘people to watch out for,’ and had Sunny Leone’s picture in it. At the time, my office contacted her manager in America and they told us that she had just signed a contract with Penthouse, and so it wouldn’t be possible (for her to be in Jism 1) because she had a professional commitment. So we forgot about it. So, of course we went to Bipasha, and have no regrets. Bipasha was stunning in the film. Bipasha and John Abraham’s chemistry was also electric. So, no regrets at all.”

Pooja then shared how she made sure to cast Sunny Leone in Jism 2. Pooja Bhatt’s 2012 directorial was Sunny Leone’s debut in Hindi films.

Recalling how her decision to approach Sunny shocked Dino Morea, who was her business partner, Pooja shared, “In 2012, when we were making Jism part 2, we were discussing whom to cast. We were wondering if we should cast Mallika Sherawat or take Bipasha again or sign a new girl. That’s when it clicked, why don’t we contact Sunny Leone. Dino Morea was my partner, so I called him and asked him if he had heard Sunny Leone’s name and he said ‘no’, so I called him a liar and asked him to Google her and not be shocked. He did that and called me, and said, ‘She is very pretty, very beautiful, but…’ The big question was how can we cast somebody who has been an adult entertainer… Two weeks after that she was in the Bigg Boss house.”

Sunny had participated in the fifth season of Bigg Boss in the year (2011-2012). Pooja revealed that she made her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, go on the reality show to ask Sunny if she’d be interested in doing the film.

She shared, “I called for an emergency meeting in my office and said if Sunny can be in Bigg Boss, be on TV, and hence enter everybody’s house, then why not in our film? At the time Raj Naik was with Colors, so we called him, he is a family friend. We told him that we are keen on casting her so he said that’s ok, and asked us if any of us would be keen on going into the Bigg Boss house. I asked Bhatt sahab (Mahesh Bhatt) to go because he can gauge in 5 minutes if someone has the potential in them or not. He went in, met her and told her that his daughter was making a film and she said she is interested, and the rest is history.”

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After making her acting debut in Jism 2, Sunny Leone appeared in films such as Shootout at Wadala, Ragini MMS 2, Hate Story 2, and Mastizaade. Her latest outing is Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

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Credits - The Indian Express