Puneet Issar says Sunny Deol travels like a king with gym equipment and cooks, but doesn’t burden producers: ‘Even Salman is like that’ | Hindi Movie News

Bollywood faces rising entourage costs affecting film budgets. Puneet Issar recalls Sunny Deol’s lavish yet responsible travel since Border (1997), with gym equipment and cooks, without burdening producers. He notes big stars like Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra also had large entourages, making it a longstanding industry tradition.

Bollywood has been experiencing a downturn recently, with only a handful of movies making good box office returns. One major concern is the rising cost of stars’ entourages, which can inflate production budgets and hinder profitability. Despite this, actor Puneet Issar recalled that Sunny Deol, known for traveling with a large crew since the 1997 film ‘Border’, managed to do so without adding financial strain to producers, traveling lavishly but responsibly.Sunny Deol’s Royal Travel StyleIn a conversation with Siddharth Kannan on YouTube, Puneet vividly described Deol’s lavish travel habits. He said, “Sunny is a king. He travels like a king. His entourage travels with him. His cooks also accompany him, his badminton court will also be there, the entire gym set up will also be with him.” When questioned about the volume of his luggage, Puneet added, “He will ask you that I am travelling with all of this weight, if there is anything that you also want to carry so he can load it up as well. Sunny is like king, like an emperor. That’s the way Sunny Deol is.”Entourage Costs and Producer BurdenAddressing the recent concerns about rising entourage expenses impacting film budgets, Issar emphasized that the situation was quite different in earlier times. He remarked, “I don’t think Sunny would put the bill on the producer. That’s why I said, he is a king. Even Salman is like that. It’s a requirement, it’s a must for them, they need it, they have to workout.”

Historical Perspective on Bollywood EntouragesPuneet pointed out that throughout Bollywood’s history, major stars have consistently maintained large entourages. He cited examples such as Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, and Dilip Kumar, all of whom, in their peak, were invariably surrounded by numerous personal staff.Sunny Deol was last seen in the pan-India action thriller ‘Jaat’, which released theatrically on April 10, and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of the year. Directed by Telugu filmmaker Gopichand Malineni in his Hindi debut, the film features Sunny Deol in the lead role alongside Randeep Hooda, Regina Cassandra, Saiyami Kher and others.