Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 9, 2017)

J P Dutta’s 1997 war-drama, Border, turns 20 on June 13 and the 67-year old filmmaker is all set to host a reunion bash on Sunday at a South Bombay five-star to mark the occasion with the cast and crew, including Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Pooja Bhatt, Raakhee, Jackie Shroff, Tabu, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Puneet Issar.

His daughter Nidhi is looking into arrangements for the bash and has confirmed to Mirror that all invites have been sent out and Pooja, Suniel and Jackie recently dropped by their office. “We hadn’t even realised that our film was nearing its 20th anniversary until someone from Florida called to remind us. I told dad that we must celebrate the occasion,” she says, adding that she was just five when Border was being shot in Bikaner.

Meanwhile, Dutta Sr has more vivid memories from the Border days. “Once, I played the song 'Sandese Aate Hain' to a troop of 500 jawans who were assigned to us for the film. After listening to it, they quietly dispersed to shed a tear in private,” he reminisces, adding that the film will remain relevant as long as the world is grappling with wars.

For the upcoming bash, Nidhi is making a video to take the attendees down memory lane. “A crew member had captured all the behind-the-scenes action while the movie was being shot. I have compressed it into a video. We will also be giving out tank and plane-shaped mementos to the team members and there’ll be a coffee table book too,” says Nidhi.

Nidhi, who has earlier assisted Dutta on the Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer 2006 film Umrao Jaan, reveals that she has no plans currently to make her acting or direction debut. Meanwhile, her father is working towards getting a new project off the ground. Will it be Border 2? “No Border 2, but another war film, yes,” Dutta Sr signs off.