“Gadar: Ek Prem Katha”. Fired 25 years ago, director Anil SharmaThe cross-border love story combined romance, patriotism and the trauma of Partition to create one of Indian cinema’s biggest hits. the protagonist Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patelthe film continues to resonate with audiences even today. The sequel of ‘Gadar’ released in 2023 also did very well at the box office. As the film celebrates its silver anniversary, Ameesha Patel reflects on her extraordinary journey and why ‘Gadar’ remains much more than an audience film.The actor revealed that he barely had time to process the film’s massive success when it first hit theaters. “When the film was having such a big hit, it was 100% distributed all over India. It was a very busy time because we were doing five films a year in those days. So I was juggling between the sets of other films and didn’t have time to digest what a huge hit it was,” he said in an interview to NDTV. Surprisingly, despite starring in the film, Ameesha never saw it on the big screen in its original theatre. It only lived as an audience member when it was re-released in 2023 before ‘Gadar 2’.“I never saw it on the big screen when it was released 25 years ago. But in 2023, when Gadar 2 was about to be released, it was released again and I actually saw my film on the big screen for the first time. Saket – my most cherished and tough character because I was very raw at the time – who knew. It felt surreal.”At that time, however, signing the film was considered risky. Coming off the success of ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’, Ameesha was reportedly advised against taking up the role, with several industry insiders warning that it could damage her career.“They told me you’re suicidal. You’re killing yourself playing a role like this: playing a mother, playing a pre-independence and post-independence character. Then you’re a Pakistani girl, shorts and miniskirts and all, and you’re covered up. There’s no glamour.”Another point of contention was the glaring age gap between Ameesha and her co-star Sunny Deol. While the pairing raised eyebrows, the actor said the age difference made sense in the context of the story.“It was justified for the character to be older than me. So when I asked my producer, ‘Am I not a child compared to the Sun?’ said, “That’s what we want, because Tara (Sunny Deol’s character) is almost like a father figure to Sakina. It’s his baby. He falls in love with her when he is alone at school and needs a lot of help. So we want to justify the age range, because that’s what the script demands.”Compared to current casting trends, Ameesha noted that audiences today are often less accepting when large age ranges appear forced or disconnected from the story.“It’s not like today, where heroes try to be younger and are paired with heroes who aren’t a weird age and the audience doesn’t digest it. Even back then I had the mental capacity to question age~CHECK~ with Sunny. I hope it wasn’t a fake power of casting. They said no, no, it was the demand of the subject why we accepted so many people. of cinema.”The road to success, however, was not smooth. Before the release of ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’, it faced skepticism and criticism, with some detractors even mocking it as ‘Gutter: Ek Prem Katha’. However, the film exceeded expectations and established itself as one of the most iconic and beloved blockbusters in the history of Hindi cinema.
