Ameesha Patel and Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2 wreaked havoc upon its release in 2022. The film won hearts for its love story set against the backdrop of India and Pakistan. Recently, Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar explored the Partition theme and was praised by audiences. Now, Ameesha Patel has reflected on the success of the Gadar franchise and claimed it had more footfalls than Dhurandhar 1 and 2.
Ameesha Patel compares Gadar and Dhurandhar success
In a conversation with NDTV, the actor recalled, “I got the biggest Pakistani fanbase due to Gadar. I had women calling my secretary. Somehow getting the numbers, elderly women called and said, ‘Kya Ameesha ji, Pakistan ko apne rula diya, Sakina ne rula diya’ (Ameesha, you made Pakistan cry. Sakina made Pakistan cry.) Then parents called and said, ‘Humne apni beti ka naam Sakina rakh diya hai’ (Parents called and said they had named their daughter Sakina). They loved Gadar.”
She added, “We’ve come to this journey 25 years later, and we’re still iconic. And we’ve had a part two that has created a tsunami at the box office and become iconic. And combined, Gadar 1 and Gadar 2 have the biggest footfalls, more than even Dhurandhar 1 and 2. Just purely on footfalls, that means the amount of people who have actually entered the cinema halls to watch both films is so heartening.”
When Anil Sharma confirmed Gadar 3
After Gadar 2, rumours were rife that Ameesha Patel and director Anil Sharma had a fallout. However, they have now buried the hatchet and are collaborating on Gadar 3. According to reports, Ameesha Patel has added a condition to her agreement to reprise Sakina: her love story with Tara Singh must remain important to the plot. When questioned about this, Anil stated, “Sakina and Tara are an intrinsic part of Gadar. But we`ll talk more about her character before the release of Gadar 3.”
About Dhurandhar success
The Dhurandhar duology, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh, made cinematic history by becoming the first Indian film franchise to cross the Rs 3,000 crore mark worldwide. It also stars Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Gaurav Gera, and Danish Pandor in pivotal roles. The film’s storyline loosely draws inspiration from multiple real-life geopolitical events and conflicts in South Asia.