Filmmaker Anil Sharma delivered one of the biggest hits of 2023 with Gadar 2. He recently opened up about the challenges he faced while shooting for the first part on a short budget.
Recalling a schedule in Punjab, the filmmaker hailed village heads for arranging extras and supporting the movie. He told Bollywood Thikana, that he could not give food or water due to lack of budget but 50 village heads helped his crew with the same and even worked as extras. He stated, “The people of Punjab were amazing, and we got a lot of love from them. They helped us a lot when we were shooting in Firozpur with 50,000 people. There was a theatre owner who introduced me to more than 50 heads of panchayats (sarpanch). And each sarpanch brought at least 500 to 1000 people with them, and it was great. I jokingly said that I need 50,000 people, but I cannot give them food and water. I said I am in Punjab and you should arrange food for me. And each sarpanch bought home-cooked meals for me and each of them sat and told me to eat. I said, ‘How can I eat so much?’ I had to take a bite from everyone. They said that their wives woke up at 4 a.m. and made rotis.”
Gadar 2 is a sequel to Gadar and stars Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma in pivotal roles from the first part. The sequel narrates the journey of Tara Singh, who travels to Pakistan to save his son from captivity. The film has crossed Rs 524 crore at the domestic box office.