Anil Sharma: People told us that it is suicidal to release 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha' opposite 'Lagaan'- Exclusive
Anil Sharma: People told us that it is suicidal to release 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha' opposite 'Lagaan'- Exclusive
Anil Sharma's 'Gadar 2' starring Sunny Deol-Ameesha Patel emerged as one of the biggest hits of the year. In an interview with ETimes, Anil Sharma opened up about his blockbuster film 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha', his shooting experience with Sunny Deol and Amrish Puri, casting, and many more.
A love story against the backdrop of partition
I always used to feel that I should make a film on partition. Because more than 10 lakh people were killed. Wo bohot bada gadar tha. I kept thinking about a story for many days. I would discuss this with writer Shaktimaan Talwar about the same. We cracked the idea of 'Gadar' during those discussions. A love story against the backdrop of partition. I knew that I wanted to make this film. Shaktiman Talwar wrote the script, and we narrated it to Sunny Deol in Ooty. We narrated it to Zee. Subhash heard the story and agreed to produce the film within five minutes.
Sunny Deol said yes.
Sunny Deol, while listening to the story, asked me whether he could participate in this. He asked me questions, and I answered. We discussed the film for 2–3 hours at night after his shoot. He said yes to the film with excitement.
Uttam Singh's extraordinary music
We got Uttam Singh to do the music because we wanted extraordinary music. When lyricist Anand Bakshi heard the story, he said that Gadar was as big as Mughal-e-Azam. I thought he was joking, but he said that he was serious about it. Then we cast Amrish Puri.
Ameesha Patel was not well-versed in Hindi.
We auditioned 300–400 girls for the female lead. Some were suitable for the part, and some were not. Ameesha Patel was not well versed in Hindi and wasn’t great as a performer. She was new in the industry. But I could see Sakina in her. She worked hard. She would come to my house for 5–6 months to work on every scene and dialogue. Finally, we started shooting the film.
Shooting a train sequence
It was not an easy film to make. We shot with 50,000 people in Firozpur for the train sequences. I remember when we were shooting a train sequence, we kept 3–4 cameras to capture the shot. We were on the railway track ahead of the train on a trolly with a camera. The train kept coming towards us. We were screaming for it to stop, but I guess our voices could not be heard. We jumped off the trolly. The train stopped only a few centimeters away. Such was the passion to make Gadar.
Casting of Tara (Utkarsh)
When it came to casting Tara and Sakina’s child, Utkarsh was young. Many people told me to cast him. It was a 100-day shoot. Utkarsh and his mother would have had to be available for 100 days, irrespective of the weather and shooting conditions. I didn’t want my son to neglect his studies. But many said that Utkarsh was cute. So, eventually, I tested him and cast him as Jeete.
Gadar clashed with Lagaan.
Distributors from across the country had different opinions about the film. Some thought it was a Punjabi film, some thought it was lengthy, etc. But we were confident. Upon its release, Gadar clashed with Lagaan. There were mixed reviews for Gadar. But Gadar created history. The number of shows and the number of people waiting outside the theaters kept increasing. People told us that it was suicidal to release Gadar, opposite Lagaan, on the same day. It is the film industry’s habit to say such things. But Gadar wrote history. It is India’s first big blockbuster of this millennium.
'Gadar 3'
It was my suggestion that we should release Gadar: Ek Prem Katha again in theaters before Gadar 2’s release. When I started making Gadar 2, nobody believed that the film would become such a huge hit. But I knew that people would go crazy about Tara Singh going back to Pakistan. And that people would love to know Tara, Sakina, and Jeete’s story. But nobody believed in it, so we didn’t get a big budget either. But still, we made the film to the best of our abilities. The work on Gadar 3 is going on, but it will take some more time as I am busy with other films.
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