Wadala
—  city  —
Dosti Acres, Wadala East
Wadala
Coordinates: 19°01′18″N 72°51′53″E / 19.021632°N 72.86459°E / 19.021632; 72.86459Coordinates: 19°01′18″N 72°51′53″E / 19.021632°N 72.86459°E / 19.021632; 72.86459
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Mumbai City
Metro	Mumbai
Zone	4
Ward	F North
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	400 031 400 037
Lok Sabha constituency	Mumbai South Central
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Naigaum

Wadala (Marathi: वडाळा) (also spelled Vadala, formerly spelt Wuddala) is a residential central suburb of the city of Mumbai. Wadala Road is a station on the Harbour Line of Mumbai's railway network.

Overview[link]

Wadala has several schools and some renowned institutions like Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (V.J.T.I), The University Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly The University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT)) and Khalsa College, located near one another. SNDT Women's University, Dr. Ambedkar Commerce & Law College also has a campus in Wadala West. The local college of Wadala is SIWS near the Wadala station. The largest bus depot in Mumbai, BEST's Wadala depot, is located here

It also houses one of India's most renowned eye hospitals, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital along with the BPT Hospital and the Ackworth Leprosy Hospital. The Ackworth Leprosy Hospital was established during British rule, and part of its complex is now given to an AIDS awareness organisation as well. The world's first methane generation plant was set up in the Ackworth hostpital complex.^[1]

History[link]

Prehistoric[link]

Wadala was one of the seven islands that were joined together to form the modern island of Mumbai. The island used to be called by different names viz. Parel, Dadar and Sion.^[2][3]

19th Century[link]

The Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme of 1899-1900 was the first planned suburban scheme in Bombay. The Bombay City Improvement Trust which was set after a bill was passed in the British parliament, formulated this plan in order to relieve congestion in the centre of the town, following the plague epidemics of the 1890s. According to the survey plan, 85,000 people were to be accommodated in the developments in Wadala.^[4]

The plans regulated constructions with emphasis on proper sanitation. Buildings were to be three storeys high, and were to have open spaces between them. The land-use was planned to be a mix of residential, commercial and institutional constructions. Parks and gardens were planned, and the streets were well laid out.

440 acres (1.8 km²) of land was procured and leased to the Government for selling. For the first time housing cooperatives were formed to take advantage of newly developed land. The Parsi (Zoroastrian) and Hindu colonies in Dadar-Wadala and the Tamil colony in Wadala-Matunga were developed in this way.^[4]

20th Century[link]

In 1915 the Port Trust Railway opened the Wadala Ballard Pier railway line. Petrol and kerosene installations also came up in Wadala.^[2] The Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (formerly the Victoria Jubilee Technological Institute) moved to its present campus at Wadala in 1923.^[5] The Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly the University Department of Chemical Technology) was established in Wadala in 1934.^[6]

During the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Wadala Salt Works was raided by around 1,500 volunteers of the Congress party on June 1st 1930. The incident occurred after an appeal was made in the Congress Bulletin of May 31st, to challenge the 'British anarchy'. The government reacted quickly and 11 women were detained.^{[citation needed]}

Geography[link]

Wadala used to be considered as a central suburb of the city of Mumbai, but is now well within the city limits. The area is bordered by Dadar on the West, Matunga on the Northwest, and Sewri on the South. The western areas of Wadala are covered by salt pans, which are on the shores of the Thane creek. On the Eastern border of Wadala, MMRDA has planned to construct a truck terminus, spread over 115 hectares (1.15 km²). Mumbai will have for the first time a centralized facility for the transport of goods by road.^[7][8]

	Matunga	Sion
	Dadar		Salt Pans, Thane creek
		Wadala    East
	Parel	Sewri

Landmarks and architecture[link]

IMax Wadala is the world's largest IMAX dome theater.

Vidyalankar Institute of Technology

Wadala has a large number of old temples, university campuses and is also home to the world's largest IMAX dome theater.^[9] It is also home to the Vidyalankar Educational Campus, whose building design has won an international award viz. Designshare's Honour award.^{[10][11][12][13]} The BEST Transport Museum is also located at Wadala’s Anik Bus depot. It features amateur mini models of BEST buses and the ancient trams.^[14]

Wadala is also known for Churches, Temples and Dargas. Near the station is the 400 year old Vitthal Temple built by Sant Tukaram who brought the idol from Pandharpur— home of the original temple of Lord Vithal. The temple is known as Prati Pandharpur (Pandharpur temple’s replica). One of the many one day festivals in Mumbai has been held in this temple to devote Lord Vitthal on Ashadhi Ekadashi (According to Hindu Calendar) in June/July.^[15][16][17] Near this temple is the 15th-century Lord Ram temple and the Hanuman temple on the opposite side of the road. The Ram Temple also houses a marriage hall. On David S. Baretto road is located a Krishna Temple which also houses an orphanage. Wadala also has a Balaji Temple, that celebrates the Jatra festival each year in the month of January. Apart from these, there is also a Shiv Temple, a Devi Mandir and a small Gurudwara near the station.

The St. Joseph Church (Our Lady of Dolours Church) is situated on the D.S Barretto Road, between Five Gardens and Wadala station. This also houses the St. Joseph's High School. Opposite is the Don Bosco Shelter which is a centre for the rehabilitation and education of underprivileged children. The Barkat Ali Dargah is located on a hill where the bridge connecting Wadala East to Wadala West ends. It is another of Wadala's landmarks.

The St. Dominic Savio Church is located in Wadala East. This church, built in 1981, was the first of Mumbai churches to be situated on the first floor.

Wadala (East) houses two cemeteries - the Bahá'í Cemetery and the Chinese Cemetery. These cemeteries were laid out in Wadala a long time ago, for the same reason that the Ackworth Leprosy Home was built at Wadala viz. Wadala was considered a distant suburb of the city.

A number of housing colonies exist in Wadala. Some of them are Bhakti Park, Dosti Acres, Eucress and Lloyd's Estate. Wadala East also has the BPT (now MbPT housing colony), a large sprawling colony for the port workers complete with a hospital. Near Antop Hill, the government of India established the Intellectual Property Office responsible for Controlling General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks in India.

About 2 kilometers from Wadala Station East, past the truck terminus, is Flamingo Bay. From 1994, lesser flamingos have been wintering here.^[18] From December to March, thousands of flamingos descend on the mudflats, a mile from the shore, to feed on the nutrient-rich marshes. The proposed Nhava Sheva bridge that will connect the island to the mainland has faced criticism from environmentalists, who allege that the habitat of these birds would be destroyed if the project is approved and completed.^[19][20]

Over the years, slum development had started in Wadala adjacent to the railway tracks and a large colony began to form. In 2006, the state government took action and cleared the area of slums.^[21]

Utilities[link]

Wadala is supplied electricity by BEST. Wadala experiences very few electricity cuts in a year, if at all.^[22] There are a number of schools, colleges and hospitals. There are police stations in both Wadala West and East. The Voice of Wadala is the neighbourhood newsletter, in print since 1988.^[23] One of the concerns for residents of Wadala is that it does not have any malls or supermarkets. For shopping, one has to use local shops, or travel to Matunga or Dadar.^[22]

List of schools[link]

• SIWS (South Indian Welfare Society) (School & College)
• The Don Bosco High School
• Auxilium Convent High School
• St. Joseph's High School
• NKES (National Kannada Education Society's) High School
• AES (Andhra Education Society's) High School & Junior College
• Bansidhar Agarwal School
• Sitaram Prakash High School
• Amulakh Amichand School
• The Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School
• JB Vachha High School
• Nadkarni Park Municipal School
• C.G.E.E.S High School
• Dnyaneshwar Vidyalaya
• Knowledge center (Mumbai School)
• Nirmal Vidyalaya School, Ganesh Nagar
• Korba Mithagar Municipal School, Wadala East

List of colleges[link]

• Vidyalankar Campus (Engineering (UG & PG), Science and Management Colleges)
• Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (V.J.T.I)
• The Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT)
• Dr. Ambedkar college of Commerce & Economics (D.A. College)
• Khalsa College
• The Andhra Education Society's Junior College of Science & Commerce
• Mumbai College of science and commerce
• Mumbai Institute of Management and Research
• SIWS (South Indian Welfare Society)
• Kala Saadhna (classical dance music academy)

List of Hospitals[link]

BPT Hospital
Shobha Maternity Hospital
Ackworth Leprosy Hospital
Mumbai Port Trust Hospital
Aditya Eye hospital

Gallery[link]

• Vitthal Mandir.jpg

  Vithhal Mandir, Wadala West

• Church in Wadala.JPG

  Our Lady of Dolours Church, Wadala West

• Rocket Garden.jpg

  Rocket Garden, Wadala West

• Don Bosco Wadala.JPG

  Don Bosco Church, Wadala West

• Patent Office Wadala.jpg

  Indian Patent Office, Wadala East

• UDCT Wadala.jpg

  UDCT, Wadala West

• Five Garden Wadala.jpg

  Five Garden Area, Wadala West

• Ram Mandir Wadala.jpg

  Ram Mandir, Wadala West

• 

  Wadala Bridge

• Barkat Ali Dargah Wadala.jpg

  Barkat Ali Dargah, Wadala East

• Nageshwar Mandir Wadala.jpg

  Nageshwar Mandir, Wadala East

• Vidyalankar Wadala.jpg

  Vidyalankar Educational Campus, Wadala East

• Hanuman Mandir - Wadala East.jpg

  Hanuman Mandir, Wadala East

• Dosti Acres.jpg

  Dosti Acres, Wadala East

• Shaikh Mistry Dargah.JPG

  Shaikh Mistry Dargah, Wadala East

• MBPT Railway Yard.jpg

  Mumbai Port Trust Railway Yard

• Bhakti Park Wadala.jpg

  Bhakti Park, Wadala East

• Mangrove Garden Wadala.JPG

  Mangrove Garden, Wadala East

• Salt Pan Wadala.jpg

  Salt Pan, Wadala East

See also[link]

• Wadala Road

References[link]

External links[link]

• Information on Local Bus Routes through Wadala
• Voluntary Citizen Group of Wadala

Manohar Arjun Surve (1944 – 11 January 1982), better known as Manya Surve, was an infamous Indian urban dacoit and gangster in the Bombay underworld. His death in 1982 during an encounter with the Bombay police became known as the city's first recorded encounter killing.^[1][2] However, the spate of encounter killings only increased in the late 1980s and further rose after the 1993 Bombay bombings; a total of 622 alleged criminals were killed in police encounters from 1982 to 2004.^[3][4]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Born in 1944, Surve moved to Bombay with his mother and stepfather. He was a B.A. graduate from Kirti College and formed a gang of students during his years there, due to the influence of his stepbrother Bhargav Dada. Bhargav was a feared thug from Agar Bazar in Dadar. In 1969, Surve was involved in the murder of a man named Dandekar, with his stepbrother, Bhargav and an associate, Manya Podhkar. The trio were soon arrested by Police Inspector E.S. Dabolkar and were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.^[5]

Imprisonment and escape[link]

While incarcerated at the Yerwada Central Jail in Poona, Surve developed a fierce rivalry with another gangster, Suhas Bhatkar a.k.a. "Potya". Annoyed by Surve’s terror tactics, the prison authorities had him transferred to Ratnagiri jail. There, he took part in a hunger strike and lost almost 20 kg, before being shifted to the local civil hospital. Surve utilised this opportunity to successfully evade custody on 14 November 1979, and returned to Bombay, having served over nine years of his sentence.^[5]

Bombay underworld[link]

After his return to Bombay, Surve formed a gang of robbers and recruited his two trusted lieutenants, Sheikh Munir from Dharavi and Vishnu Patil from Dombivili. They were soon joined by another hood, Uday Shetty in March, 1980.^[5]

The gang's first robbery took place on 5 April 1980, in which they stole an Ambassador car. The vehicle was later used to loot Rs 5,700 from Laxmi Trading Company near Currey Road. On 15 April, the gang savagely assaulted and almost killed Sheikh Aziz, an enemy of Sheikh Munir, near Kala Killa in the Dharavi slum. On 30 April, they stabbed a police constable when he was escorting gang rival, Vijay Ghadge to a police station in Dadar.^[5]

Borrowing the plot from a James Hadley Chase novel which he had read in prison, Surve decided to loot money from the government milk scheme in a bid to gain recognition from the leaders of the Bombay underworld. The gang with the addition of Dayanand Shetty, Parshuram Katkar, Moreshwar Narvekar, and Kishore Sawant stole a car near Barkha Bijlee in Mahim, and went on to execute a heist of Rs 1.26 lakh near Govandi. The stolen vehicle was later found abandoned near National College in Bandra, exactly as penned in the Chase novel.^[5]

Another famous robbery undertaken by Manya Surve's gang included Rs 1.6 lakh from Canara Bank’s branch on Sion-Trombay road and Duke and Sons Company at Deonar.^[5] Manya Surve's criminal activities was not only confined to heists and robberies. He was also involved in narcotics trafficking, as he saw that the profits derived from it was considerable.^[6]

Police crackdown[link]

The gang's various successful heists and robberies brought a tremendous amount of heat on Manya Surve and his gang. As a result, the police were put under great pressure and they launched Operation Manya Surve to capture Surve and curb his gang's activities.^[5]

On 22 June 1981, Sheikh Munir was picked up from a chemical company near Kalyan. A few days later, Dayanand Shetty and Parshuram Katkar were arrested at a lodge in Goregoan. Anticipating his capture, Surve slipped into an aide’s hideout in Bhiwandi on 19 November 1981. When police squads finally broke into the apartment, they recovered a hand grenade, a country-made revolver and some live ammunition.^[5]

Surve was finished after systematic police operations led to a breakdown of his gang's activities. After the arrest of his cohort Uday Shetty, he was the only remaining member of the gang who was not in prison.^[5]

Encounter[link]

On 11 January 1982, Bombay police received a tip off from one of its informers that Manya Surve would be arriving at a beauty parlour near the Ambedkar College junction in Wadala. At around 1.30 pm, eighteen Crime Branch officers split into three crack teams and waited for him to arrive. After twenty minutes, Surve was spotted coming out a taxi to pick up his girlfriend, a widow with two children.^[5]

After noticing the squad close in and take positions, Surve took out his Webley and Scott revolver. However, before he could squeeze the trigger, Surve was mortally wounded by two police officers Raja Tambat and Isaque Bagwan, who fired five bullets into his chest and shoulder.^[5]

Surve was dragged from the scene and put on an ambulance. While on the way to KEM Hospital, he kept screaming that the police had not given him a fair chance to defend himself. He succumbed to his injuries a few minutes later. This encounter was the end of Surve's two year spree of urban dacoity and crime. It is generally believed that it was the underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar who tipped off the police about his whereabouts, after finding his position being challenged by Surve.^[5]

In popular culture[link]

The life of Manya Surve inspired and provided the basis for the 1990 Bollywood film, Agneepath. The movie's main character, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (played by Amitabh Bachchan) was heavily based on Surve, with Bachchan even copying the gangster's voice. The film was a flop at the box office but earned Amitabh Bachchan a National Award for Best Actor and later went on to become a Cult movie.^[7] An upcoming movie about Manya Surve's encounter killing Shootout at Wadala, starring John Abraham in the lead role, is scheduled to be released after 18th January 2013.^[8]

References[link]

Not to be confused with pornographic actress Sunny Lane.

Sunny Leone
Sunny Leone at the AVN Expo, Las Vegas, NV on January 20, 2012
Born	(1981-05-13) May 13, 1981 (age 31)[1] Sarnia, Ontario, Canada[2]
Nationality	Canadian/American
Ethnicity	Punjabi[3]
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1][2]
Weight	110 lb (50 kg; 7.9 st)[1][2]
Spouse	Daniel Weber (2011-present)[4]
No. of adult films	33 as actress, 25 as director (per IAFD)[5]
Website
http://www.sunnyleone.com/

Sunny Leone (born May 13, 1981)^[1] is an Indo-Canadian pornographic actress, actress, businesswoman and model of dual Canadian/American nationality. She was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003 and was a contract star for Vivid Entertainment. Named by Maxim as one of the 12 top porn stars in 2010, she has also played roles in independent mainstream films and television shows.

Early life[link]

Leone was born in Sarnia, Ontario to Sikh Punjabi parents from India.^[3] Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother (who died in 2008^[6]) was from a small town named Nahan in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh.^[3][7] As a young girl, she was very athletic and played street hockey with the boys,^[2] enjoyed ice skating on a nearby frozen lake and drinking hot chocolate in front of a fire after playing in the snow all day.^[8]

Though she was raised as a Sikh,^[3] her parents enrolled her in a Catholic school,^[3][9] as it was felt to be unsafe for her to go to public school.^[10] There she had her first kiss at 11, lost her virginity to a basketball player at another school at 16,^[9] and discovered that she was bisexual at 18.^[11] When she was 13, her family moved to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, then to Lake Forest, California a year later,^[9][12] fulfilling her grandparents' dream that the family be together in one place.^[3] She graduated from high school in 1999 and enrolled in college.

Career[link]

Before working in the porn industry, she first worked at a German bakery,^[13] a Jiffy Lube,^[9] and later a tax and retirement firm.^[14]

Leone at the 2002 Adult Entertainment Expo, one of her earliest promotional appearances

While studying to be a pediatric nurse in Orange County, a classmate who was an exotic dancer introduced Leone to John Stevens, an agent who in turn introduced her to Jay Allen, a photographer for Penthouse magazine.^[7] When picking a name for her adult career, she has said that Sunny is her real name and Leone was picked by Bob Guccione, former owner of Penthouse magazine.^[15] She posed for Penthouse magazine, and was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for the March 2001 issue, followed by a feature in the Holiday 2001 edition of Hustler magazine as a Hustler Honey. She has appeared in other magazines including Cheri,^[16] Mystique Magazine,^[17] High Society, Swank, AVN Online, Leg World, Club International and Lowrider,^[18][19] while her online credits include ModFX Models,^[20] Suze Randall,^[21] Ken Marcus^[22] and Mac & Bumble.^[23] Her pictorial credits also include working with stars like Adriana Sage, Jenna Jameson, Jelena Jensen and Aria Giovanni.

In 2003, she was declared the Penthouse Pet of the Year and also starred in the video Penthouse Pets in Paradise alongside Tera Patrick and Kyla Cole. In 2005 Adam & Eve appointed her as their West Coast Internet Sales Representative.^[24]

That same year, Leone signed a three-year contract with Vivid Entertainment with which she transitioned into the world of hardcore pornography, stating that she would only do lesbian scenes.^[2] Her first movie released was titled Sunny^[25] and was released in December 2005. Her next movie, Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone, was the first interactive title for Leone, who was the first Vivid Girl to make such a movie.^[26] Taking only four days to film,^[13] the movie won her her first AVN Award (Best Interactive DVD). She followed this with Sunny Loves Cher, which featured her first on-screen squirting,and The Female Gardner co-starring Mikayla Mendez and Daisy Marie.

Leone's last two movies under her contract with Vivid were It's Sunny in Brazil, which was filmed in Brazil.^[27] and The Sunny Experiment also starring Monique Alexander and Brea Lynn.^[28] The movies were released in October and December 2007 respectively.

In May 2007, upon re-signing her contract with Vivid for another six films, Leone agreed to perform for the first time with men on camera, but exclusively with her fiancé, Matt Erikson.^[29] That summer she also received breast augmentation,^[30] and shot her first movie under the new contract titled Sunny Loves Matt. The movie led to her to be nominated for three (out of six) AVN awards in 2009 in addition to being a choice for Female Performer of the Year.^[31] She followed up her first boy-girl title with The Other Side of Sunny in October 2008, which would be the last time she would perform with Erikson.

Leone at Vivid booth during the 2008 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas

In January 2008, Leone revealed that she was no longer exclusive to Erikson, and had done scenes with other actors, most notably Tommy Gunn, Charles Dera, James Deen^[32] and Voodoo.^[33] In August of that same year, she announced the launch of her own studio, Sunlust Pictures, with Daniel Weber as her partner.^[34] With her new venture Leone plans to write, direct and create her own brand of adult movies with Vivid Entertainment as her distributor.^[32] Her first independent production, The Dark Side of the Sun, was released in March 2009, and was debuted at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas.^[35] In June 2009, she held a casting call in Las Vegas for her second independent production titled Sunny Slumber Party^[36] (released September 2009).

No longer exclusive to Vivid, Leone has started working with other studios and performers since 2009. She has managed to leverage her online popularity by striking deals with firms like PPPcard,^[37] AdultPokerParty.com,^[38] Brickhouse,^[39] Flirt4Free,^[40] Totemcash^[41] and Imlive^[42] to sell and distribute her content over the internet and other media.She won the "Web Babe of the Year" at the 2008 Xbiz Awards.^[43] Her websites and business interests are run under her banner company Leone L.L.C.

In addition to her film career, Leone has been part of the Vivid Comedy Tour,^[44] and has modelled for the Vivid Footwear collection.^[45] Leone has also participated in events like the Vivid/ClubJenna Lingerie Bowl^[46] and Vivid's Hot Rod Night.^[47] Doc Johnson launched a pocket pal^{[clarification needed]} in 2006 moulded to her vagina,^[48] and in 2008 released the Sunny Leone Exciter vibrator.^[49] Control MFG currently uses Leone's image along with other Vivid girls to market their line of skateboards. She is paired with Gab Ekoe, one of the Team Control riders.^[50] She also indicated that she plans to launch her own line of lingerie and other Sunny-branded products including a diamond jewellery line.^[32]

In September 2009, an iPhone application consisting of a collection of non-nude photos, some videos and a porn star-penned blog^[51] was approved by Apple for sale in the iTunes store, making it the first officially sanctioned application featuring a porn star.^[52] By February 2010, the app had been removed by Apple from the store.^[53]

Leone was voted number 13 (up from number 41 in 2007^[54]) on Genesis magazine's "Top 100 Porn stars" list,^[55] number 34 on Desiclubs.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2004,^[56] and one of the "40 under 40" ranking on AVN Online magazine.^[57] In 2010, she was named by Maxim as one of the 12 top female stars in porn.^[58]

Mainstream appearances[link]

Leone's first mainstream appearance was in 2005, when she was a red carpet reporter for the MTV Awards on MTV India. She has also had a cameo in the film The Girl Next Door, performed in Ja Rule's video "Livin It Up" and a video for Kidd Skilly.^[59] Other credits include E!'s "Wild On!" and the Sundance Film Festival's 'After Dark.'^[60] Leone was a contestant in the second season of the Fox reality show My Bare Lady 2: Open For Business, in which a group of adult actresses were given classes and training on how to pitch investment ideas and competed for success in the business world.^[61] In addition to filming her scene for Debbie Does Dallas in 2007, Leone was also part of a Showtime documentary of the same name detailing the production of the movie and the personal lives of its stars.

She has indicated that for the right price she would seriously consider a career in Bollywood.^[62] She has been courted by Indian directors in the past but has felt uncomfortable with the roles that she would have played.^[15][63] Director Mohit Suri is rumored to have asked Leone to play the lead role in his movie Kalyug, but instead cast Deepal Shaw as he could not afford her $1 million acting fee.^[64] She has mentioned that Aamir Khan is her favorite Bollywood Actor,^[65] and that over 60% of her fans are from South Asia.^[66]

In 2008, Leone announced that she would be starring in a mainstream action adventure movie titled Pirates Blood, which was shot in Oman. The shooting was completed in two weeks and was to be released in winter 2008.^[67][68] Leone also landed a role in Middle Men, producer Chris Mallick's indie feature about the birth of the online porn industry set for wide theatrical release in 2009.^[69] She has mentioned that she will be appearing in an upcoming Will Ferrell movie scheduled to be released in 2010.^[70]

She appeared in the film The Virginity Hit playing a version of herself, where she is hired to take the virginity of the lead character.^[71]

Leone has made appearances at events such as the 2002 SEMA International Auto Salon, the 2002 Extreme Autofest Pomona and the 2006 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.^[72] Sunny has also been the hostess at events in clubs like the Mansion in Miami^[73] and the Highlands in Hollywood.^[74]

In 2005, she was mentioned in Forbes magazine for a story on Vivid Entertainment.^[75] Leone has also been featured in mainstream publications like FHM, Front and Jane magazine.^[76] In 2007, along with the other Vivid Girls, she was seen in a 48' high holiday Billboard in Times Square at W. 48th Street and Seventh Avenue.^[77] Leone is also one of the Penthouse Pets who appears in the PlayStation Portable game Pocket Pool. She was also featured in a coffee table book titled Naked Ambition: An R Rated Look at an X Rated Industry by Micheal Grecco.^[78]

In 2004, she was part of "No More Bush Girls", in which she and several other popular adult actresses shaved off their pubic hair in protest of the Bush presidency.^[79] In May 2008, she shot a promotional video for Declare Yourself, a nonprofit, nonpartisan voter registration campaign targeting 18-to-29-year-olds.^[80] She indicated that Barack Obama would be her choice in the 2008 U.S. election, primarily because she felt he was more business friendly to the adult industry than his opponent John McCain.^[81] She also released a public service announcement on behalf of the ASACP, reminding adult webmasters to protect their sites from children by having an RTA label on it.^[82]

Leone has a strong interest in health and fitness, and has been featured in several mainstream fitness publications. Leone has modelled fitness clothing for the sports brand Fantasy Fitness^[83] and shared that she keeps her body in shape by working out as much as she can despite her busy schedule and as quoted in Men's Fitness magazine, "I try to eat very healthy – lots of vegetables, drinking my milk every day."^[84]

Bigg Boss[link]

In 2011, she participated in the Indian reality series Bigg Boss, entering the house on day 49.^[85][86] However she refused to divulge her porn star status, and replied to fellow house-mate Pooja Bedi that she was a model and a TV star in America for the last ten years or so.^[87] It was reported that she has caused a stir in the larger populace^[88] with her Twitter feed gaining 8,000 new followers in just 2 days^[89] and Google saying searches for her experienced a "breakout".^[90] There have also been complaints lodged with the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting alleging that the Colors TV channel is promoting pornography by having Leone appear on the show; among those who have filed are the Indian Artistes and Actors Forum^[91] and Anurag Thakur, member of Lok Sabha and head of the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing.^[92]

Bollywood[link]

During her stay in the Bigg Boss house, Sunny was approached by a famous Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt who entered the house briefly to offer her the lead role in Jism 2 (the sequel to the 2003 film Jism starring Bipasha Basu). She accepted it, which will result in Pooja Bhatt’s production house, Fish Eye Network and Leone’s agent discussing the movie further.^[93] The first look of the film Jism 2 poster was released anticipating the actress entry in Bollywood.^[94]

Sunny Leone signed her second Bollywood film which is Ekta Kapoor's Ragini MMS sequel. Ragini MMS, a crossover horror movie was one of the most talked about sleeper hits of 2011.^[95]

Personal life[link]

In June 2006, Leone became an American citizen,^[13] but plans to remain a dual citizen of Canada.^[96] Although bisexual, she has stated that she prefers men.^[97] In her spare time she enjoys abstract paintings, horse riding, reading, playing World of Warcraft,^[98] watching The Simpsons and the Discovery Channel.^[99] She used to play on a women's soccer league team in California.^[2] Her favourite holiday destination is Hawaii,^[13] and her favourite cuisine is Italian.^[99]

In separate interviews, she has stated that in ten years' time she would like to be married and have started a family, and probably retire from the industry by the time she is 30.^[96] Leone was engaged to Matt Erikson, a vice-president of marketing at Playboy Enterprises.^[12] She currently resides in Hollywood, California with her cat and drives an Audi A5.^[9]

She mentioned in an interview at the start of 2011 that she was married to Daniel Weber.^[100] During her stay in the Bigg Boss house later that same year, Leone indicated that the relationship had by revealing that she had been previously married; she had ‘purposely arrived late’ to their first date as she was not impressed with him, but he changed her mind by sending 24 roses to her hotel room.^[101]

In 2010, Leone's father died of cancer, which he had been first diagnosed with in 1999. In 2011, Leone along with Monique Alexander and Keni Styles ran in the Rock n’ Roll Los Angeles Half-Marathon to raise money for the American Cancer Society.^[102][103]

A 2008 Eye Weekly article reported that "Leone does her best to maintain a link to Sikh traditions, even if more in theory than in practice. But she's unlikely to disavow her career path due to religion." and that Leone said "Girls will leave the industry claiming that they found God. Well, the fact is, God has always been with them the entire time."^[104] In a 2010 interview, she said "It’s a community-based religion. You walk into a temple and you’re greeted with the utmost respect... But, just like any religion it doesn’t want you to shoot adult material. I mean, I grew up going to temple every Sunday. When my parents found out they knew my personality which was very independent. Even if they tried to stop me or tried to steer me the right way they would have lost their daughter. I’m too headstrong. And it wasn’t a plan. It just happened and my career and everything just kept getting bigger and bigger."^[10]

Awards[link]

• 2008 XBIZ Award – Web Babe of the Year ^[105]
• 2010 AVN Award – Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene
• 2010 AVN Award – Web Starlet of the Year^[106]
• 2010 F.A.M.E. Award – Favorite Breasts^[107]
• 2012 XBIZ Award — Porn Star Site of the Year (SunnyLeone.com)^[108]

See also[link]

Pornography portal

• List of porn stars who appeared in mainstream films

References[link]