Sunny Singh Says Thaapi Won Him Over in Just 10–15 Minutes

After years of wanting to enter Punjabi cinema, Sunny Singh needed only 10 to 15 minutes to say yes to Thaapi. The speed of that decision is the telling detail in his Punjabi-film debut: he had not been waiting for a convenient crossover, but for a story that felt different from the work he had already done.

Speaking to Hindustan Times in an interview published on October 1, Singh said the script mattered more than the industry attached to it. He had long been interested in making a Punjabi film, but wanted a kahani—story—that would take him somewhere new. Writer-director Jagdeep Warring’s material made that case almost immediately.

The choice also marks a change of genre. Singh described Thaapi as his first sports drama and contrasted its more serious territory with the lighter films that have shaped much of his Hindi-screen identity. That makes the debut more than a language switch: it gives him a format and dramatic register he says he has not previously attempted.

His Hindi filmography provides the contrast. Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety placed him firmly in the space of relationship-driven comedy. With Thaapi, a drama built around kabaddi, the actor is moving toward a story in which sport supplies the framework rather than comic complications.

Singh’s account of the decision is also notable for what it does not suggest. He is not treating Punjabi cinema as a replacement for Hindi films. He told the publication that he intends to work in both industries, framing Thaapi as an expansion of his career rather than a farewell to the space where it began.

That parallel path matters for how the debut is being introduced. A Punjabi actor crossing into Hindi cinema is familiar territory, as is a Hindi-film name arriving for a one-off regional project. Singh’s stated intention is broader: he wants room for both, with the script determining where he works next.

Thaapi also brings him together with Neeru Bajwa. Singh described working with the established Punjabi star as a first-of-its-kind experience for him. Their pairing places a performer making his first Punjabi film opposite someone with a long-standing presence in that cinema, giving his move an immediate connection to an audience that already knows Bajwa well.

For Singh, however, the defining moment came before the genre change, the kabaddi setting or the new co-star. He had waited years for a Punjabi project that did not feel like a repeat. When Warring’s script arrived, the answer came in minutes.

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