Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, released in 2001, is celebrating 25 years this year and, marking the occasion, filmmaker Anil Sharma gave a major update about the third film in the franchise. The film, which starred
Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Amrish Puri in leading roles, was released alongside Aamir Khan’s Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India on June 15, 2001, and both films managed to make a mark at the box office.
Speaking to HT on 25 years of Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, the film’s director Anil Sharma shared that he feels blessed that the film is “still alive in people’s hearts”. “The day the film’s writer, Shaktimaan Talwar, narrated the story, I knew it had the potential to become India’s biggest hit film, and it did. Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), and Sholay (1975) have been my favourite films, and I tried to make this on that level, and it made it to the top list. Besides blockbuster business, it got 10 crore footfalls, and no film has achieved that till date. Even Gadar 2 had half of this footfall,” he shared.
Speaking about the box office clash with Lagaan, the director added, “Today we discuss competing against Lagaan, par koi competition nahi tha! In those days, two-three big movies used to release together and work as well. The audience used to watch one show of this and another of that back-to-back. Woh marketing nahi, woh dil ka daur tha.”
Speaking about an update on Gadar 3, or if we can see it happening anytime soon, Anil Sharma shared, “After Utkarsh (Sharma, son-actor) grew up, people started saying Jeete ki kahani laao. But for me, if the Gadar story was a bomb, I would only make Gadar 2 if I got an atom bomb story, and it made history. Now, if I get a nuclear bomb story, then only I will make it. We are working on the script and, God willing, if all goes on track, we will start Gadar 3 next year!”
About Gadar
Gadar is an unabashedly emotional love story set against Partition, withSunny Deol roaring his way into the hearts of millions. Gadar tapped into raw emotions. Set during the Partition, it followed truck driver Tara Singh’s extraordinary journey to reunite with his wife, Sakina, across the border. Powered by Sunny Deol’s larger-than-life presence and songs like Udja Kale Kawan, the film became a phenomenon in smaller towns and single-screen theatres. Following its release, Gadar emerged as the biggest box-office winner, reportedly drawing record footfalls and becoming one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of its time.
