Bollywood superstar slapped his star kid son after shotgun mishap with neighbour. 'At the time when Papa hit me...'

Bollywood legend Dharmendra recently opened up about a rare disciplinary moment in his household involving his son and fellow actor Sunny Deol. Speaking on The RKB Show, the veteran actor revealed that he had only ever slapped Sunny once in his life, recounting a childhood incident involving a toy shotgun and a neighbour’s property.

The Shotgun Incident
Dharmendra described the moment vividly, explaining that a young Sunny had accidentally broken all the windows of a neighbour’s house while playing with a shotgun. “I hit Sunny only once. He was small at that time, and he had gotten a shotgun, and he had broken all the windows of the neighbour’s house. That was the only time I slapped him, but I kept calling back at home to ask how he was after going to the studio,” Dharmendra said. Sunny himself recalled the event, noting, “At the time when Papa hit me, I had two fingers imprinted on my face.”

Dharmendra also discussed his role in shaping Sunny’s early career, particularly during his debut in Betaab (1983). The veteran actor admitted that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with Sunny’s initial dubbing for the film. “I saw the trial show of his first film Betaab and dubbing was completed. After seeing the trial show, I got so angry. I came home and I asked, ‘Kahan hai Sunny sahib? Nikalo use.’ I took him along with me and made him redo the whole dubbing. He used to get very tired,” he shared.


Dharmendra emphasized the importance of dedication in dubbing, reflecting on his own experiences. “I remember my first dubbing. I had torn my shirt because I was like, ‘Why do I have to do this dubbing after acting in front of the camera?’ In dubbing, all those emotions don’t come forth. It is difficult, but until and unless you put soul into it… if you don’t put soul in dubbing, then there is nothing.”

Support and Fatherly Care
The actor revealed that he often stayed late into the night to support Sunny during dubbing sessions. “I used to stay with him till 11pm–12am at night during Betaab dubbing sessions. Sometimes, when I would pretend to leave for home, I would hide and watch Sunny. I could hear him tell the technician, ‘Kal karenge,’” he said. Sunny reflected on these moments, describing them as a strict yet caring experience: “It was like going to school and the headmaster sitting there.”


Despite a serious back injury during his college years in England, Sunny went on to perform his own stunts in films. Dharmendra admitted that the family often only learned about these risky stunts after watching the movies. Director Anil Sharma, who worked with Sunny on films such as Gadar, recalled a particularly dangerous jump from 11,000 feet for Hero. Sunny had deliberately kept his father in the dark about the stunt, saying, “Papa ko yeh baat pata nahin chalna chahiye.” Dharmendra smiled while commenting on his son’s daring nature, “Sometimes in Jatt people, guts work more than their brains.”