Sunny Leone’s first meeting with Shah Rukh Khan was awkward!; the actress says, "I couldn’t even manage to be cool for half a second!”

From her Bigg Boss days to ruling the screen in her own web series, Sunny Leone’s Bollywood journey has been nothing short of phenomenal. And if there’s one defining moment that truly catapulted her into the mainstream, it was her sizzling dance number Laila Main Laila in Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees (2017). But while the song became an instant chartbuster, Sunny’s first-ever meeting with SRK was far from the glam moment you’d expect.In a 2016 interview with Bollywood Life, Sunny shared a hilariously awkward memory from the set. Fresh off the controversial TV interview that had put her in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, she was understandably nervous. “I was walking off the set when I saw him,” she recalled. “We started talking, and I just kept saying thank you — over and over! He was so sweet and said, ‘No! We are happy to have you’.”But what really stayed with her was her own appearance during that first interaction. “The lady who did my hair had styled it into this gigantic helmet curl thingy,” Sunny laughed. “I told myself, ‘Really? That’s what you look like when you meet Shah Rukh Khan?’ I couldn’t even manage to be cool for half a second!”Despite spending a few days shooting with King Khan, Sunny admitted she never quite got over being star-struck. In another 2017 chat with SpotboyE, she gushed, “I already had him on a pedestal… but after working with him, he went even higher. You realize why people like him are where they are.”Today, Sunny is a full-fledged star in her own right. She recently headlined the MX Player web series Anamika and is all set to make her Malayalam debut with Rangeela and Tamil debut with Veeramadevi. She also has a special number in The Battle of Bhima Koregaon alongside Arjun Rampal. Her critically acclaimed performance in Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy (2023), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, marked a significant turning point in her acting career. She also explored regional cinema, taking on roles in Tamil and Malayalam films, showcasing her versatility.