All about my mother: Sonu

Sonu Sood is enjoying the attention for his role as Cheddi Singh in Dabangg but few know that before making it big in Bollywood, he'd found his calling in Chennai and started his acting career with a Tamil film. His turning point in life came when he left the security of an engineering job for films.
My mother strongest
"My mother was my constant guide when I decided to step into unfamiliar territory.I remember she was desperately waiting for me to come back to Punjab after four years in Nagpur (where I studied engineering). But when I told her about my acting aspirations, she was quick to tell me that I should follow my dreams," says Sonu. Thus started his ordeal to make it big in the film industry. "I used to go to the offices of directors to drop my portfolio and they wouldn't even glance at it. I would sulk and my mother quietly listened to my rants and told me to hang on. She started writing letters to inspire me, despite our talking frequently over the phone."
It was his acting in Tamil and Telegu films which brought him recognition and opened doors in Bollywood. But before all the stardom, he had to learn the language. "I was at my wits’ end when my director told me that I have to learn Tamil. Just when I was thinking of giving up and returning to Punjab, I got an unexpected gift in my mail. It was a book on mastering spoken Tamil which my mother had sent. I would sit with the book every night, noting down the difficult words, conversing in Tamil with the assistant directors. Gradually, my language improved," says Sonu.
When days are dark
Now whenever he is upset, Sonu takes out his treasure chest filled with the inspirational letters and reads them over and over again. "I now understand why she wrote those letters. She knew that she won't always be there to hold my hand. This was her way of showing that she is always there," says Sonu, who lost his mother two years ago. "It made me realise that I was lost without her. She was my source of strength," he concludes.
Check out Sonu Sood’s pics
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