Film: Mostly Sunny
Rating: 3.5/5
A former porn actress being accepted widely in a country perceived to be conservative? Indian viewers busted the perception and prejudices by embracing Sunny Leone.
Perhaps there has been no bigger success story in Hindi cinema than Leone, a Canadian porn star of Indian origin becoming hot property in Mumbai. For over five years, Indian fans, media and society have put a blanket over her past and merrily accepted Leone.
But for the keen eye in search of a great story, there was always the lure to uncover the history that has seen Leone rise from between the sheets to becoming a titillating ‘Bollywood star’.
Filmmaker and photojournalist Dilip Mehta was entrusted with the task of shadowing Sunny Leone. And after three years of filming, he has brought us a film that’s a warm, unadulterated look at the journey of a porn actress into mainstream cinema. All through her life so far, neither Leone nor her dear ones have been ashamed to use the words 'porn actress', so why should we be?
Leone's adult entertainment background is the very essence of her legend and Mehta has covered this all-important aspect. He has sourced vital archival material from her career in porn to her entry into the Indian entertainment space through a reality TV show and subsequent work in Hindi films.
Class or mass is immaterial. Leone is a symbol of the voyeuristic viewer across the globe. Mehta begins his film in a desi cab ride with the rustic driver lending his expert comments on Leone. Moments later it leads to a big fat Indian wedding where the hosts reveal why they hired Leone to dance at the function and how some guests stayed away. It aptly reflects the paradox of Leone’s journey from ostracism by her community in the West to embrace by a conservative country like India. It sets the ball rolling for an engaging, riveting, unabashedly orgasmic film with hardly any sex.
The film opens your eyes to the many mysteries of Sunny Leone. Top among them is how Karenjit Kaur Vohra became Sunny Leone. Wonder how many were aware that Vohra has a younger brother who never questioned her career choices, how he even milked his sister’s image to make some quick bucks. Along with her husband Daniel Weber, this man remains her true family. Leone’s brother leaves you in shock with his candid disclosures. Such sibling bonds break the image of the traditional Indian sibling rivalry.
Very little information is provided by Leone's relatives in Canada, most of whom have abandoned her. At 19, the lure of turning a quarter into a dollar saw her join the adult entertainment industry. She didn’t hide it from her brother and soon became the face of a popular porn magazine. In her first radio interview, she had no qualms declaring that she is bisexual.
More than her career, what’s fascinating is the Daniel Weber-Sunny Leone relationship, how this friendship turned into love, then marriage, and still later saw the couple produce and perform together in adult films. Conservative heads turned when Weber disclosed the truth about Leone and himself to his Jewish family. While the whole world know her as Sunny Leone, to Daniel she remains Karenjit, his best friend and soulmate.
Not for a moment has Leone regretted her career choice, but the most difficult aspect of her life was how to tell the truth to her parents. Leone talking about the dreaded moment leaves you numb. And how did the disclosure hit her parents? Did they sever ties with her? These are things you discover through the film.
How Leone entered the Indian entertainment industry through a reality TV show is well documented. What isn’t is how, but for the timely intervention of the TV network's CEO, Leone’s million-rupee dream would have been nipped in the bud.
On the whole, Mostly Sunny is one helluva ride. Mehta has also buttoned in a few characters close to the actress. But their disclosures appear to boost Leone’s image rather than the film itself. Also, Mehta has largely spoken to Leone’s key family members and associates from the porn industry and Hindi cinema. But it would have been interesting to gather the views of middle-class Indians who have no connection with the actress save for being privy to her explicit past.
Despite these gaps, Mostly Sunny does not run into rough weather. Without compromising on his journalistic values, Mehta has shown great sensitivity in ensuring that Mostly Sunny doesn’t come across as a porn film.
As a photojournalist, he has beautifully presented pictures, be it from the humble bylanes of Mumbai or the snowclad terrain of Canada. A shot of a cute little street-dweller chasing Sunny Leone’s car warms your heart. Mehta has picked vital elements from the various stage of her adult life and stitched them together effectively. The narrtive is smooth and there is seldom a moment where the filmmaker loses his grip on the plot.
Deepa Mehta is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, but with Mostly Sunny, her brother Dilp announces himself on the world stage. As his film shows, it’s not her work that makes Leone so likeable, it's her humble attitude. It is unfortunate that Mehta and Leone are no longer on talking terms. As an actor, her films are all pretentious, but her best work is not a piece of fiction. It's her life, and it has been documented well through Mostly Sunny.
Director: Dilip Mehta
Cast: Sunny Leone, Daniel Weber
Runtime: 86 minutes