"Should Not Be Scared": Sunny Kaushal On Asking For Work

"Until you go out there and say, 'I am here', people won't know or notice you," said Sunny Kaushal

Actor Sunny Kushal says he has realised the importance of shedding inhibitions to approach people for work as until one is "out there" they won't be noticed by filmmakers. Kaushal began his career as an assistant director on films like My Friend Pinto (2011) and the 2014 actioner Gunday. He made his acting debut in 2016 with Sunshine Music Tours And Travels. The actor, son of veteran action director Sham Kaushal and brother of Vicky Kaushal, then earned acclaim in filmmaker Reema Kagti's period sports drama Gold in 2018. He also starred in Amazon Prime Video's period drama miniseries The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye, directed by Kabir Khan.

Sunny Kaushal, 32, said he has realised it isn't enough to just manifest good work in the industry but to also actively chase it. "The key learning for me from the industry so far has been that you should not be scared to let people know that you want work. Somewhere, we do feel the apprehension of how to approach someone and ask them to audition you. But it doesn't matter. Until you go out there and say, 'I am here', people won't know or notice you," the actor told PTI.

Sunny Kaushal said the understanding to be on the lookout for work is also fairly new to him, as earlier he was extremely "shy" to approach people. "But over the period of time I have developed the confidence to approach people and tell them that I have heard they are working on something, so if they could test me for the same. I don't mind doing that today at all," he added. And, it was, in fact, this approach that got him his latest feature, Shiddat.

Also starring Radhika Madan, Diana Penty and Mohit Raina, the film is scheduled to be released on Disney+ Hotstar on October 1. The actor's journey with Shiddat began in 2019, right after the release of Gold when he met the film's producer Dinesh Vijan and asked if he had anything in store for him. Vijan asked him to meet Shiddat director Kunal Deshmukh, best known for films like Jannat and Tum Mile.