MUMBAI: Actor and politician, Sunny Deol who is basking in glory on the grand success of his latest film Gadar 2 came amid a loan controversy over an outstanding loan on his property situated in Mumbai's posh Juhu area.

Deol’s property named 'Sunny Villa' was put up for auction earlier this week by the Bank of Baroda (BoB) as he had failed to repay a loan of Rs 56 crores, and a notice to that effect was published in several leading newspapers. 

However, just a day later BoB announced that it was withdrawing the notice citing 'technical reasons' a move that has come under question from several quarters. 

The first public notice of BoB said that the e-auction for the 600 sq meter plot in Juhu which has the constructed building consisting of Sunny Super Sound Studio, a preview theatre, post-production suites and Deol’s office would be held on 25 September with a reserve price of Rs 51.4 crore.  The property and the business has been with the family for decades.

BoB also said that it also had the symbolic possession of the property which would be available for inspection on 14 September for prospective bidders. The notice also mentioned his father Dharmendra Singh Deol and brother Vijay Singh Deol alias Bobby as the guarantors. 

Apparently, the Deols had borrowed against the said property from BoB in 2016 to fund their film 'Ghayal Once Again' which did not do well at the box office and could not garner adequate collections. 

While withdrawing the notice BoB gave two reasons first, that it did not specify the exact quantum of dues to be recovered and second, the sale notice was based on a symbolic possession of the property and that physical possession by the bank was pending in court. However, the main reason is widely attributed to the fact that, post the notice the Deols approached BoB to settle the dues.

The film Gadar 2 has been a blockbuster with collections crossing the Rs 400 crore mark and still going strong. Although it is not clear if Deol has any profit sharing in this project, nevertheless he would be earning considerable payments for the film and experts feel that his earnings could be a significant part of the payback offer to the bank. 

When Sunny was asked about the controversy he refused to comment saying, "Whatever I will say, people will interpret it wrongly." Sunny whose real name is Ajay Singh Dharmendra Deol is also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur.