Even 22 years after its release, people have not forgotten Sunny Deol’s portrayal of Tara Singh as he went across the border and fought for his love in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001). With director Anil Sharma giving shape to Gadar 2: The Katha Continues, Gaurav Chopra counts himself fortunate to have joined the sequel’s cast. The actor, who plays an army officer in the Deol and Ameesha Patel-starrer, is full of praise for the director who, he says, built a warm environment on set.

“Anil ji has been generous and respectful. Till the last shot, he was nice and loving. For an actor, the [experience] becomes special,” he shares.

The biggest joy for him has been teaming up with Deol. While on screen, Deol is the angry action hero — who can single-handedly take on an army of baddies or even uproot a hand-pump, as seen in Gadar — Chopra was surprised by his co-star’s soft persona off screen.

“Sunny sir is the epitome of the warm and generous Punjabi gentleman. There are two sides to him. On screen, he is a ticking bomb who will give [an explosive] performance, but off it, he is humble and soft-spoken,” says the actor, who featured in Bachchhan Paandey (2022) and Rana Naidu.