Suniel Shetty as Dev in Dhadkan.
Suniel Shetty recalled playing Dev in Dhadkan and how it helped him bag his first Filmfare award.
Suniel Shetty has been one of the most phenomenal actors in the Indian film industry. In a career spanning almost 30 years, he has acted in over 100 films. The actor made his debut in 1992 at the age of 31 with Balwaan, opposite Divya Bharti. Later, he went on to establish himself as a successful actor in several films such as Mohra, Anth, Pehchaan and Dilwale among others. However, Dhadkan went on to attain cult status.
While speaking with the news agency IANS, Suniel Shetty opened up about his character Dev and how it helped him bag his first-ever Filmfare. He stated, “It took approximately three to four years to make ‘Dhadkan’. Director Dharmesh ji had come to me and before narrating the script, he told me one thing; he said that I will definitely love the character and guaranteed that I will get my first award because of the role. I was impressed by his confidence because during that time period, many people believed that I existed only because of action films.”.
He further recalled, “I said ‘yes’ to the role but Dharmesh ji postponed the shooting by four to five months and due to shoot commitments, I was unable to adjust the dates. With a very heavy heart, I had to let go of the film. They started shooting with someone else, but Dharmesh ji wasn’t convinced as he felt that only I could do justice to the character of Dev.”
On the work front, Suniel Shetty made his OTT debut with Samir Kakkad’s web series Dharavi Bank, a crime-thriller showcasing cat-and-mouse between Thalaivan and JCP Jayant Gavaskar amid a backdrop of a Rs 30,000 crore crime nexus located in the impoverished slums of Dharavi in Mumbai. Besides Suniel Shetty, Dharavi Bank also starred Vivek Oberoi, Krishna Kant Singh Bundela, Sonali Kulkarni, Luke Kenny, Freddy Daruwala, Siddharth Menon and Chinmay Mandlekar among others. Currently, Suniel Shetty is headlining the Amazon Mini series Hunter – Tootega Nahi, Todega.
