Sonu in Mumbai
Sonu in Mumbai
Sonu Sood has a reputation for being really good at being really bad. In the movies that is. Covid-19 has turned his image upside down.
Scroll down to take train journeys through Punjab with a young Sonu and experience what it feels like to be a real-life hero (warning: not as rosy as the films make it out to be!).
We link you back to the multimedia homepage at the end, but if you want to return earlier just click the "start" button in the side menu at any time.
Scroll down to take train journeys through Punjab with a young Sonu and experience what it feels like to be a real-life hero (warning: not as rosy as the films make it out to be!).
We link you back to the multimedia homepage at the end, but if you want to return earlier just click the "start" button in the side menu at any time.
Goodness
Goodness.
Childhood lessons.
Childhood lessons.
Fullscreen
"My
dad had a showroom in Punjab, it was called Bombay cloth house. Every week
he used to have a langar ceremony where we would distribute food.
My mother, being a professor, she would wake up at 4 am every morning and would teach for free until she had to leave for work at 9 am.
She always used to tell me: 'You are successful only if you are able to help someone. If you don’t help someone you are not a successful person.'"
My mother, being a professor, she would wake up at 4 am every morning and would teach for free until she had to leave for work at 9 am.
She always used to tell me: 'You are successful only if you are able to help someone. If you don’t help someone you are not a successful person.'"
Tears in their eyes.
A way home
Memory lane.
Responsibilities on my shoulder. Photograph: Sonu Sood fan art.
Responsibilities on my shoulder. Photograph: Sonu Sood fan art.
Fullscreen
"The kind of faith they had put in me was a huge responsibility on
my shoulders.
Once I would get home, I would be on my social media making sure I hadn’t missed a message from someone trying to get in touch with me, sitting under a fly-over somewhere or a bridge or on the road.
And if I missed that message, every minute he would be checking his timeline: “Ok, did Sonu respond? Did I get a message from him?”
So, it’s really a never-ending job until the last migrant reaches home."
Once I would get home, I would be on my social media making sure I hadn’t missed a message from someone trying to get in touch with me, sitting under a fly-over somewhere or a bridge or on the road.
And if I missed that message, every minute he would be checking his timeline: “Ok, did Sonu respond? Did I get a message from him?”
So, it’s really a never-ending job until the last migrant reaches home."
Ripple effect.
Real life hero
Dreaming.
Sonu as a child. Perhaps dreaming of becoming a Bollywood hero?
In recent months, he has been called a real-life hero a lot in the press.
But is it really as glamorous as the films make it out to be?
Real life hero.
Feeling defeated.
Success
Success.
Photograph: Sonu and his father.
Scripts can wait.
Better world.
"Once
this whole thing ends, it’s going to be a better world. You’ll have better
people, you’ll have people who are willing to help others. You’ll have
stronger people, mentally stronger.
You’ll have stronger bonds between children and parents and grandparents.
Everything is going to be different. So we have to make sure to stay positive and very, very strong when we speak to our friends.
We have to spread a message of goodness."
Photograph: Sonu's mother, his guardian angel.
You’ll have stronger bonds between children and parents and grandparents.
Everything is going to be different. So we have to make sure to stay positive and very, very strong when we speak to our friends.
We have to spread a message of goodness."
Photograph: Sonu's mother, his guardian angel.
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For more from our global contributors in lockdown roam our digital exhibition or you might like one of the stories below:
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Sonu in Mumbai
Goodness.
Childhood lessons.
Tears in their eyes.
Memory lane.
Responsibilities on my shoulder.
Ripple effect.
Using social media.
Dreaming.
Real life hero.
Feeling defeated.
Success.
Scripts can wait.
Better world.