I have developed the confidence to approach people: Sunny

Sunny Kushal said he has realised the importance of shedding inhibitions to approach people for work as until one is 'out there' they would not be noticed by filmmakers.

The actor 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'.

Sunny, 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.

Kaushal said he realised it is not 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 does not matter. Until you go out there and say, 'I am here', people will not know or notice you," he said.

Kaushal said the understanding to be on the lookout for work is also new to him, as earlier he was extremely 'shy' to approach people.

"But over the period, 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 do not mind doing that today at all," he added.

It was through 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'.

"I met him, did a series of auditions for the role and the wavelength matched. When I heard the film's narration, I was blown away. It had an extremely pure love story to tell. I told Kunal that you can do a few auditions for this with me, I do not mind, but I must do this film. I just could not let it go," he shared.

In the film, Kaushal plays Jaggi, a state-level hockey player who falls in love with Kartika (Madan), a state-level swimmer.