EXCLUSIVE: Suneel Darshan Reveals Why He Cast Bobby Deol In Barsaat Despite ‘Still-Unresolved’ Court Case With Sunny Deol; Admits, “He Called Me Saying…”

Bobby Deol and Suneel Darshan have worked in two films, Barsaat and Dosti: Friends Forever. The director, while promoting his upcoming film, Andaaz 2, in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Bubble, the filmmaker opened up on casting Bobby despite his films not doing well. Darshan revealed signing a 3 films contract with the actor for assurance. The filmmaker had a long-standing dispute with Sunny Deol of Rs 77 Lakhs since their film Ajay. They had a High Court case going on.

Suneel Darshan On His Association With Bobby Deol

When asked about his association with Bobby Deol, Suneel Drashan said, “I knew Bobby (Deol) right from his childhood, because I was there since the beginning with Sunny Deol. Then a point came when there were a lot of disturbances, so it was decided that we won’t, you know, go together anymore, we just needed to resolve our differences, which still remain unresolved, despite the court orders. But with Bobby Deol, there was one common factor — his secretary, Mr. Bhag Singh, who earlier worked with Dharam ji and then also handled Sunny’s work. My relationship with him was on a very different level.”

Further adding, “He approached me, and Bobby’s career at that point wasn’t doing well; a few of his films hadn’t worked. So he would always say to me, ‘Suneel, ek film banao Bobby ke saath. You know, he’s a good guy. You won’t face the kind of problems you faced with the other one.’ Coincidentally, this was around the time when Akshay Kumar was supposed to not be in the film. But even before that, Bobby had already called me saying, ‘Sunil bhaiyya, please think of something’”.

Suneel Darshan Signed A 3 Films Contract With Bobby Deol

The Andaaz director said, “I didn’t want to say no, because Bobby, for me, was like a child. And when that disturbance happened with Akshay, I turned the car around and called Bobby. He said, ‘Bhag Singh ji, I want to meet you.’ On the way, he met him and asked, ‘You remember you asked me once, but I already have another hero signed for the film.’ But he said, “No, don’t worry. I guarantee you — what do you want?”

Continuing, he added, “I said, ‘Then I’ll need an agreement. A very strict one. You know, a three-film contract, and between the start of the first film and the end of the third, Bobby Deol won’t be allowed to shoot any other film in between.’ He said, ‘Dekho, our intentions are clear. We’ll do it exactly the way you want.’ And that agreement was made and signed. There was no malice in Bobby’s heart. He worked with a lot of love — and the work he did… I still think Barsaat, that film of Bobby’s — in countries like the UK, where 2,53,000 pounds was considered good business, Barsaat did half a million pounds’ worth of business. ‘So for him, it was a good product.'”

Concluding, Suneel said, “Unfortunately, Barsaat didn’t get the respect it deserved because the media panned it a lot. Back then, the film industry media wasn’t like today’s digital media. It was controlled by certain powerhouses. Right? And those powerhouses didn’t like the idea of someone new emerging, someone strong, someone who could keep creating star after star. So if within one lobby, 6 actors or stars came up, the equations would get disturbed. That film was deliberately panned. But Barsaat, again, had beautiful songs.”

What Happened During Barsaat?

The controversy around the 2005 film Barsaat stems from Akshay Kumar’s sudden departure from the project, which director Suneel Darshan later attributed to personal reasons—specifically, media speculation about Kumar’s rumoured relationship with co-star Priyanka Chopra. According to Darshan, Akshay cited “trouble at home” as the reason for walking away from the film, even though he had already filmed a song with Chopra. His exit led to Bobby Deol stepping in as the lead, and ultimately marked the end of Darshan’s professional association with Kumar.

Sunny Deol-Suneel Darshan Court Case

Suneel Darshan and Sunny Deol have a long-standing dispute. Darshan claims that Deol owes him a substantial sum of money related to their 1996 film Ajay. He alleges that the actor took film prints to launch a distribution company. But failed to pay the agreed amount—Rs 1.77 crore, though some reports cite Rs 77.25 lakhs. He further claims that Deol had promised to compensate by doing another film, which never materialised.

After years of failed negotiations and unmet assurances, Darshan pursued legal action. The matter went to arbitration, where Darshan’s claim for losses was dismissed. But he was awarded Rs 12 lakh in arbitration costs. Both sides challenged the ruling, but the Bombay High Court ultimately upheld the arbitrator’s decision. It ordered Deol to pay the Rs 12 lakh.

Watch The Full Interview

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