Sunny Deol and director Anil Sharma are gearing up to start work on Gadar 2. The preparation for the film began two years ago when Sunny approved the idea for a sequel. Talking about Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, which marked 20 years of its release this year, Sunny says, “Few people would know this. There’s a real-life love story of Boota Singh which became the thread of our story back then. Of course, we went way beyond it. When Sharma ji (Anil Sharma) had first told me about Gadar I had told him that Papa was offered a film similar to it, but that film never materialised. Boota Singh’s love story inspired us, but we gave it our own spin. Our film went much further.”

The 2001 film, which starred Ameesha Patel opposite Sunny, was a huge hit. “When the film was shown to select sets, people found the music and the look of the film outdated, but we loved it. At a trial that we had, I was advised to dub the film in Hindi before releasing it. Picture lagne se pehle, yeh sab ho raha tha. But it didn’t shake our belief in what we had made. The initial reaction was, ‘Yaar, yeh dated lag rahi hai.’ But the day the film was up in the theatres, it won the hearts of the audience. They took a piece of it home and today, it’s their film. Sharma ji and I are not the kind of people who go to places and discuss a film. By the time Gadar: Ek Prem Katha was released, I was already shooting something else. The film did all the talking itself.”

The actor says that he goes by his instinct when it comes to choosing a film. “I have done so many films and I always like to go with my heart,” he says, adding, “I don’t believe in the concept of showing off how much I know and what all I am capable of. If the film needs it, it will come from my core. A film is like a child that belongs to an entire team. You have to make it your own, raise it well. Jab sab accha hoga, tabhi ek acchi picture banegi.”

Given that Sunny’s father, Dharmendra, was offered a film similar to Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, is it likely that he could become a part of Gadar 2? “I don’t think so...every film has a journey and it goes through its rounds of preparation. We’re all set for the Gadar sequel and papa is not going to be a part of it. But there will be another film soon and we’ll get together for it,” he signs off.