On my pinboard - Sonu Sood

Actor and producer Sonu Sood is a popular face in the Hindi, Telugu and Tamil film industries. He has also appeared in a few Kannada and Punjabi films.

He bagged the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for ‘Best Villain’ for the film ‘Arundhati’. He also won the Apsara Award for ‘Best Actor in a negative role’ for ‘Dabangg’.

Sonu is best remembered for his impressive performance in films like ‘Yuva’, ‘Athadu’, ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and ‘Dookudu’.

He is now awaiting the release of ‘Kung Fu Yoga’ with Jackie Chan and is now working on his home production ‘Two in One’ which will see actors Prabhudeva and Tamannaah Bhatia playing the lead roles.

Food
‘Makki Roti with Sarson ka Saag’

“I love Punjabi food and ‘Makki roti with sarson ka saag’ is my favourite. I don’t keep a track of calories when I am eating this particular dish. It may not be the healthiest but it is one of the signature dishes of Punjab. I can also have ‘dal’ and ‘roti’ happily at any point of time. I consume a lot of egg whites because that helps with my gym routine. My diet is never complete without a plate of salad and Caesar salad tops the list in that. I am not a very good cook but I’ve tried making omelettes and can just about
manage to make ‘parathas’.”

Musician
R D Burman

“I can never get bored of listening to songs by R D Burman. I used to play the guitar when I was in school and college and most of the songs that I strummed on it were those of R D Burman. His song ‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko’ is one of my favourites. Even now, whenever I listen to some of his songs, they sound as fresh and new as they sounded when he first sung them. I also like it that Burman was an experimental musician with nothing predictable about him or his work.”

Inspiration
Shakti Sagar Sood

“My father Shakti Sagar Sood has always been my inspiration. Inspite of going through difficulties and hardships, he brought me up very well. He always taught me to be humble and grounded at all times and help those in need. I lost him a few months ago but his thoughts, principles and ideals still live within me. He always used to tell me that we have come to this earth to help other people and be kind.”

Travel
Madrid

“My work takes me to different places but whenever I plan a family vacation, it has to be in Madrid, Spain. Nothing can match up to the culture and architecture of the place. The food there is quite a treat as well. Closer home, Shimla is one place that I never get bored of visiting. When my mother was a teacher, I used to accompany her on school trips to Shimla and sometimes to Kashmir as well.”

Author
Jeffrey Archer

“I was introduced to the works of Jeffrey Archer by my mother, who was a professor of English. She gifted me my first book by Jeffrey Archer and since then, I have been adding to my collection of Jeffrey Archer books. I began reading all kinds of books but somehow, I was drawn to the works of Jeffrey and developed an emotional connect with them. I like his style of narration and the way he weaves a plot. Each one of his works is different and I still have a large collection of his books in my hometown in Punjab.”

Actor
Amitabh Bachchan

“I can’t think of anybody better than Amitabh sir. I’ve always admired his sense of discipline, focus and commitment to the craft of acting. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have watched his film ‘Deewaar’. We have acted together in ‘Buddha Hoga Tera Baap’ and I found him to be a very friendly person. Deepika Padukone and I have also worked together in ‘Happy New Year’ and she too is a warm-
hearted person.”

(As told to Nina C George)