| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Profession(s) | Actor, Model, Producer |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height [1] | in centimeters– 185 cm in meters– 1.85 m in feet & inches– 6’ 0¾” |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Career | |
| Debut | Tamil Film: Kallazhagar (1999)
 Telugu Film: Hands Up! (2000)  Bollywood Film: Shaheed-E-Azam (2002)  English Film: Rockin’ Meera (2006)  Producer: Tutak Tutak Tutiya (2016)  |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 30 July 1973 (Monday) |
| Age (as of 2021) | 48 Years |
| Birthplace | Moga, Punjab, India |
| Zodiac sign | Leo |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Moga, Punjab, India |
| School | Sacred Heart School, Moga |
| College/University | Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur |
| Educational Qualification | Graduation in Electronic Engineering |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Food Habit | Vegetarian [2] |
| Hobbies | Playing the Guitar, Doing Workout, Kick-Boxing |
| Controversies | • A fraud case filed by producer Sheetal Talwar: A fraud case was filed against him by producer Sheetal Talwar as he had lent him a certain property in Yari Road, Mumbai on the condition that it was free of any legal dispute, but it wasn’t. [3]
• Manikarnika and Kangana Ranaut row: Sonu Sood attracted controversy after he stepped out of the Bollywood film, “Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi.” When the Bollywood actress, Kangana Ranaut alleged him of leaving the film because he was not willing to work with a female director, Sonu said, “Kangana is a dear friend and she will always remain one but this constant playing the woman card, the victim card and making this entire issue about male chauvinism is ridiculous. The gender of the director is not the issue. Competence is. Let’s not confuse the two. I’ve worked with Farah Khan who’s a competent woman director and Farah and I had a great professional equation and we are still best of friends. That’s all I would like to say.” [4] • Illegally converting a residential building in Mumbai’s upscale Juhu into a hotel: In January 2021, Mumbai’s civic body BMC filed a police complaint against Sonu Sood for illegally converting a residential building in Mumbai’s upscale Juhu into a hotel. It was the same six-storey building that the actor had used for quarantine facilities for medical professionals at the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown. [5] • Income Tax raids and allegations of tax evasion: On 15 September 2021, a series of raids was carried out by the Income Tax Department at various premises related to Sood including Mumbai, Nagpur, and Jaipur. Reportedly, these raids meant to probe a real estate deal and some other financial transactions related to Sood. [6] Later, the Central Board Of Taxes alleged that the actor had evaded tax of Rs. 20 crore. After Sood and a Lucknow-based infrastructure group was raided by the Income Tax Department, it was found that the actor routed his “unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans from many bogus entities.” The agency also accused him of violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) while raising donations from abroad. According to the tax authority, the actor’s charity foundation, which he founded in July 2020, raised Rs. 18.94 crore in donations from April 2021 till September 2021, but it spent only Rs. 1.7 crore in relief work, and the remaining Rs. 17 crore was lying with the foundation unutilised. [7] Following the allegations, the actor, on 20 September 2021, took to social media to share a post that read – “You don’t always have to tell your side of the story, time will. I have pledged myself to the service of the people of India with all my strength and heart. Every rupee in my foundation is awaiting its turn to save a precious life and reach the needy. In addition on many occasions, I have encouraged brands to donate my endorsement fees for humanitarian causes too, which keeps us going. I have been busy attending to a few guests, hence was unable to be at your service for the past few days. Here I am back again, in all humility, at your humble service for life. My journey continues.”  |
| Relationships & More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Family | |
| Wife/Spouse | Sonali Sood
 |
| Children | Son(s)– Ayaan Sood
 Eshaan Sood  Daughter– None |
| Parents | Father– Shakti Sagar Sood (Entrepreneur)
 Mother– Saroj Sood (Teacher)  |
| Siblings | Brother– None Sister(s)– 2 • Monika Sood (elder; scientist) • Malvika Sachar (younger; politician)  Note: His younger sister, Malvika Sachar, joined the Indian National Congress in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu on 10 January 2022.  |
| Favourites | |
| Food | Aloo Paratha |
| Actor(s) | Amitabh Bachchan, Sylvester Stallone |
| Actress(es) | Sridevi, Raveena Tandon |
| Film | Dabangg |
| Musician | R. D. Burman |
| Style Quotient | |
| Car Collection | Porsche, Audi Q7
 |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Sonu Sood
- Does Sonu Sood smoke?: No [8]
- Does Sonu Sood drink alcohol?: No [9]
- Sonu Sood is an Indian actor who mainly works in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi films.
- Sonu was born in a upper middle-class family in Moga, Punjab.
Sonu Sood in childhood
- After completing his schooling, Sonu worked at his father’s showroom in Moga for a while.
Sonu Sood in his school days
- He, then, did his graduation in Electronic Engineering from Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur.
- When he was in the second year of his college, Sood got motivated to pursue modelling and acting as his career.
Sonu Sood in his modelling days
- After graduating from college, Sonu relocated to Mumbai and began searching for work.
- When he went to Mumbai, Sonu had just Rs. 5500.
- Sonu spent his initial days in Mumbai in a one-room-kitchen apartment with six other boys.
- During his struggling days in Mumbai, Sood did a job in a private firm in South Mumbai to support his everyday expenses.
- As his job involved field work, he got a monthly train pass made from Borivali to Churchgate.
Sonu Sood’s monthly train pass
- From his office job, he used to earn Rs. 4500 per month.
- Prior to becoming an actor, Sood had participated in the Grasim Mr. India contest and reached the top 5.
- Sonu made his acting debut in 1999 with the Tamil film, “Kallazhagar.”
- He marked his debut in Bollywood in 2002 with the Bollywood film, “Shaheed-E-Azam.”
- Sood shot to fame after appearing in the Bollywood film “Yuva.”
Sonu Sood in Yuva
- Some of his popular Telugu films include “Athadu,” “Ashok,” “Arundhati,” “Ek Niranjan,” and “Shakti.”
Sonu Sood in Ashok
- Sonu has worked in many popular Bollywood films, including “Aashiq Banaya Aapne,” “Dabangg,” “Happy New Year,” “Gabbar Is Back,” and “Simmba.”
Sonu Sood in Dabangg
- Sood has also featured in the Chinese film, “Xuanzang.”
Sonu Sood in Xuanzang
- Due to the common surnames, once, Miss India finalist and actress Asmita Sood, was mistaken as his sister.
- He has worked in 7 different language movies: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, English, and Punjabi.
- He was supposed to act in the Hindi and the Telugu remake of Zanjeer but had to pull back due to his injury.
- Despite being spiritual, he had given up praying for around 4 years after the demise of his mother.
- His first modelling assignment earned him Rs. 500, which he spent to buy himself a jeans.
- Sonu is very particular about his fitness and hits the gym regularly.
Sonu Sood inside the gym
- He has appeared on the covers of many popular magazines, like “You & I,” “Health & Nutrition,” “Just Urbane,” and “Krunch Today.”
Sonu Sood on the cover of the Just Urbane Magazine
- Sonu is an ardent follower of Lord Ganesha.
Sonu Sood praying to Lord Ganesha
- Sood is passionate about animals and has a pet dog, Snowy.
Sonu Sood with his pet dog
- He did a film Kung Fu Yoga with Jackie Chan, during the shoot of which they became good friends.
Sonu Sood with Jackie Chan
- He has a production house called Shakti Sagar Productions.
- Amid the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was hailed for helping migrants. Sonu helped thousands of migrant workers, stranded by the Covid-19 lockdown in Mumbai, return home. While talking about it in an interview, Sonu said,It gave me sleepless nights when I saw visuals of people walking hundreds of kilometres to reach their villages.”
- On 30 July 2020, he shared a throwback picture of himself on Twitter from a photoshoot in 1997. He also wrote –And I dared to become an actor.”
Sonu Sood in a photoshoot in 1997
- The residents of Chelimi tanda under Dubba in Telangana have constructed a temple dedicated to Sonu Sood for his efforts to help migrants reach their native place during the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. Reportedly, the cost of the temple is Rs. 1.7 lakh. [10]
Sonu Sood Temple in Telangana
References
- 1 ↑ IMDb
- 2 ↑ Food of India
- 3 ↑ News 18
- 4 ↑ Times of India
- 5 ↑ NDTV
- 6 ↑ The Hindu
- 7 ↑ The Indian Express
- 8 ↑ Times of India
- 9 ↑ Times of India
- 10 ↑ The Hindu