Was stressed about ‘Gadar 2’ before release, says Sunny Deol

Mumbai, Aug 14 (PTI) Actor Sunny Deol on Monday said he was “stressed” before the release of “Gadar 2” but the overwhelming response has made him emotional.

A sequel to Deol’s 2001 hit “Gadar: Ek Prem Katha”, the Anil Sharma directorial has become a runaway hit at the domestic box office, amassing Rs 134.88 crore net in its opening weekend.

“I was very stressed, everyone is stressed about something in life because everyone works hard and they don’t want to fail. In my life, I’ve always walked on the path of truth and that’s the most difficult thing to do.

“But when you attain success, you do feel very good about it. When this film released, I realised I’ve God’s blessings. I was crying and happy at the same time. I met my father that day, I told him that I’m very happy and going crazy,” Deol told reporters at the success press conference of the film.

In the movie, Deol reprised his iconic role of Tara Singh alongside returning cast members — Ameesha Patel as Sakeena and Utkarsh Sharma as Charanjeet.

The 65-year-old actor said “Gadar 2” is a personal film.

“I’m connected with Tara Singh and I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned for Tara Singh. I wanted to connect with the audience because I wanted them to connect with Tara Singh,” Deol said.

“Gadar 2” is set in 1971 and follows Tara Singh’s journey to Pakistan to rescue his son, Charanjeet Singh from the Pakistani Army. The original was set during the Partition period.

The actor also talked about his father Dharmendra’s concern about “Gadar 2” being leaked online, and said the magic of the big screen will never fade away.

“My father told me that the film is there on YouTube. I told him that piracy has been happening since many years, but nothing can match up to the magic of the silver screen,” Deol said.

Sharma compared “Gadar” and “Gadar 2” with Hindu mythological epics Ramayan and Mahabharat.

“When I heard the story (of ‘Gadar 2’), the emotion worked for me big time. The first part of ‘Gadar’ was actually Ramayan, like lord Ram goes to Lanka to get goddess Sita. I remember saying, ‘This is our ‘Ramayan’, so this cannot fail,” Sharma said.

“When I heard the second part, I thought it’s like agar Abhimanyu chakravyuh mein fasa tha aur uss waqt Arjun pahuch jaata, toh ‘Mahabharat’ toh wahin khatam ho jaati. (If Arjun had come to rescue Abhimanyu from Chakravyuh, then the Mahabharat would have ended at that very moment)” he added.

The film is produced by Zee Studios.

Going forward, Deol said he would continue making film which entertain everyone across generations.

“I promise all my fans that I’m only going to make good films like these. They say films are for masses, what do you mean by that masses? Public is public and that means everyone,” he added.