Are you really Sunny Deol’s son, you can’t even fight back: Karan Deol on being bullied in school

Tribune Web Desk 
Chandigarh, August 30

Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol’s son Karan Deol is all set to make his Bollywood debut with ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’, but before he hit the screens, Karan in candid interview revealed how he was “bullied for being Sunny Deol’s son”. 

The 28-year-old told ‘Humans Of Bombay’ that he was “bullied, ridiculed and identified as nothing else but ‘Sunny Deol’s son”. 

He shared how hard he tried to break out of his father’s superstar image. Karan said during a school event, some of his seniors “picked him up and smacked him down” in front of everyone and asked him if he was really Sunny Deol’s son.

Karan said: “The first memory I have of school, was when I was in first grade. We had a sports competition and I was taking part in a race. I was standing there, when suddenly a few older boys surrounded me. One of them lifted me up, and in front of everyone, smacked me down. He then asked me, ‘Are you sure you’re Sunny Deol’s son? You can’t even fight back’. I was so embarrassed.”

Teachers were no help either. Karan continued: “Once when I didn’t do well in an assignment, in the middle of the class, a teacher came up to me and said, ‘You’re only capable of writing your dad’s cheques, and nothing else’.”

Karan revealed how his mother Pooja Deol supported him throughout this rough phase. 

Karan said he broke out of his father’s image after he rapped at the school’s talent show. 

Speaking about the “turning point” in his life,’ Karan said: “I remember walking up on that stage, and there was a sea of people, with all eyes on me... But I took a deep breath, and performed my heart out. All the years of being bullied, of being ridiculed, of being identified as nothing else but Sunny Deol’s son, came out when I was up on that stage. The audience was cheering me on too —I felt so liberated; like I’d finally broken free from the shackles”.

Sunny Deol, has been juggling politics and films, is gearing up for the release of his next directorial, ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’.

The film is scheduled to release on September 20.