Mostly Sunny, a documentary based on the life of Sunny Leone, has received critical appreciation across various international festivals. Though the film hasn't released theatrically in India, it is available on Netflix.
The film, however, doesn't seem to have pleased Leone, who was unhappy with the way the film turned out. A year after the film began it's journey, Leone explained her reasons for not promoting the documentary.
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“I don’t like the way it was handled and the way it was released, when I first signed, I was told adult material wasn’t going to be the focus but it became the director’s focus. Breach of contract doesn’t actually exist in India. By the time you want to do something, it's already out. And then its not worth your time. What the filmmaker’s lost out on was me promoting the documentary. People are loving the documentary, that’s great I’m happy about that.” Leone told the daily, Indian Express.
Talking about how she wanted the film to come out, Leone said, “What I wanted was something a teenager could have watched, somebody who is on the verge of being independent, and who wants to pursue something she wants, as long as it is not cheating or killing. While I was in the adult entertainment industry, it was part of my journey, that is not who I am. I didn’t want something that made that industry look so dark and dingy which it was not, or make it seem like that was a big bad secret, which again it was not.”
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Explaining about her reservations, Leone added, “I didn’t like interviewing style in some scenes, I wanted the message to be one that told young people, or anybody watching the documentary, that with hard work and a little struggle, you can be anybody you want to be. It is a disappointment, but what am I going to do? I never even saw a copy of the film. In such a case, the paperwork means absolutely nothing when it is the director’s call to make the film they want.”
Directed by Dilip Mehta, Mostly Sunny was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, before it was screened at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival last year.