Sunny Leone: Adult film star turned Bollywood actress writes erotic fiction
Leone's collection is the first to be made available on smartphones in India
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Your support makes all the difference.Actress and former adult film star Sunny Leone is adding another string to her bow by writing erotic fiction.
Karanjit Kaur, better known as Leone, rose to fame as one of the most searched-for pornstars before swapping the adult industry for Bollywood.
Her latest venture is Sweet Dreams, a collection of short erotic stories published by Dehli-based publication house Juggernaut.
The collection is her first to be published and features a variety of plots, including an encounter between an Indian IT expert and an Indian stripper. It is available to download on phones in India.
“I would write on my laptop at all times, in Mumbai or in the quiet of my home in Los Angeles, or during time off on a Bollywood set and it took me four months to come up with the first draft,” Leone told the BBC.
“I've never written before, but I took up the offer from the publishers as a challenge and had a go.”
Leone says each story is written especially for women readers and some feature more conventionally romantic story lines.
“I used a softer tone to some of these intimate scenes, versus what guys like, which is something more explicit," Leone told India Today.
“I wanted a lot of stories to be from a female’s perspective. I feel like when we read about, see or visualise strong women, that if we keep putting that message out there […] it is something people will get used to and other women that might second guess themselves will go for things and not hold themselves back."
The 35-year-old was born in Canada, has Indian heritage and has enjoyed a successful career in Bollywood for the last five years in India despite the country's deeply conservative views.
Leone is one of the most searched for people on Google in India and launched her acting career after appearing on Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother. She proved a popular contestant and launched her Bollywood career shortly after, announcing her retirement from porn in 2013.
But her ascent has not been without some resistance and she has had to fight for acceptance from more conservative corners. In January, she won support across India for her handling of an interview with Bhupendra Chaubey, who questioned her work in porn for the duration of their exchange, branding her a “porn queen”.
“Do you not sometimes get affected by the fact that your past will continue to haunt you?” he had asked.
“But I'm not held back," she said in response. "Everything I’ve done in my life has led me into this seat. Everything has been a stepping-stone to something bigger or better.”
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