Sunny Leone on finding acceptance in Bollywood

When Sunny Leone decided to enter Bollywood after a brief stint on Salman Khan’s controversial reality show Bigg Boss, the path ahead was not a rosy one for her. But despite all odds, she managed to make her mark in the very initial years in the industry. One project after another helped her become a household name across India in no time.

Now, it has been eight years since Leone made her silver screen debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s Jism 2 (2012). Her journey in showbiz has been filled with several ups and downs. But the actress believes in looking at the positive side of it. “I am so thankful for everything that has happened, and people here have been so inviting, caring, and accepting. I don’t come from a typical journey. It has been very, very difficult than almost everybody in Bollywood. It was tough, a lot of crazy things happened, and there is a lot good than bad,” she says.

But she does admit that it took time for people to accept her. “My journey is so different from everybody out there, and I was fortunate that people accepted me. It took a while for people to do that, but even when I first got here, there was a vast majority of people who accepted me, and that is why I survived. It is the fans who kept me alive and kept everything going. If it was not for them, I don’t think I would be here,” adds the 39-year-old actress.

Leone is currently in the USA. She had flown to LA in May this year along with her family. She is waiting to come back to India as soon as possible and resume work. “I want to come back so bad. India is my home. Los Angeles is just my vacation home. India is where my heart is,” she says.