Actor Suniel Shetty shares secrets from his past and present, as he celebrates his achievement of bagging the Best Actor award at SAIFF

While the Indian audiences remained ignorant, or at times, critical of actor Suniel Shetty’s work, the star, who believes in ‘action’ and not words has proved his acting skills yet again by bagging the Best Actor award for his upcoming film, Red Alert at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) held in New York, recently. Shetty who was in town to inaugurate a cricket tournament on Tuesday spoke about his love for sports and films.

Visibly elated, for winning the award after 17 long years in the industry, Shetty says, "It is a fabulous feeling. When I began as an actor, majority of my critics called me 'wooden' or 'expressionless’ and even passed a verdict saying that I can’t act. This award that I have received at the SAIFF in New York proves my worth and inspires me to work harder and better.”

Talking more about the character that he plays in the movie – Red Alert, Shetty says, “The film addresses the issue of Naxalism and I play a Naxalite. Moreover, with the alarming growth of the problem the movie will be an eye opener for the general public.”

Shetty who has ventured into diverse genres of acting after starting out as an action hero has a lot to share. He says, “When I entered industry, I didn’t know anything about acting and today I am more than 100 films old. Even though acting came to me naturally it wasn't an easy expedition. I went through considerable lows when I tried to experiment initially. I established myself as an action hero and switched to comedy when I was on my peak, which wasn't accepted easily by the audience. It was only after Hera Pheri that people recognised my worth as a comedian and then other comedies followed.”

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