When we meet Sunny Deol on the terrace of his office, he greets us with a smile. The gleam on his face is that of contentment. Reason? He’s revelling in the success of Gadar 2, the sequel to his 2001 cult hit Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The film earned Rs. 685.19 crore at the box office worldwide. Ask how delivering one of the biggest Bollywood hits of the year feels like, and he replies, “It’s been a long time...Success ka nasha thoda sa utar chuka hai.” Excerpts from the tête-à-tête:

It’s been a hectic couple of years, but as time passes, you don’t remember the bad things. My son Karan (Deol; actor) got married in June. I was home for a week, and it was beautiful. We re-released Gadar: Ek Prem Katha during that period. Seeing the response, I started feeling positive. And after visiting our armed forces bases, the buzz reached such a point that I was crying and laughing at the same time a day before the release of Gadar 2.

This (Gadar 2’s success) was the first time. Then there was Bobby’s Animal — the shot where he shushes — and whenever I see it, it brings tears to my eyes. To me, he’s like a child. We, Deols, have that issue (laughs)... Koi bhi tareef karta tha, emotions phoot padte the.

If I talk about my Insta following, most of my fans are aged between 12 and 24. Main khud dekh kar hairaan tha ki mujhe kyun follow kar rahe hain! Gadar 2’s success has given me a chance to do the type of cinema I wanted to do.

When I started out [as an actor], I’d keep signing films, so kaam chalta rehta tha. Every actor had five to six films at a time, so we weren’t relying on one film. Things changed from 2000 on. There was rapidity in technology and in people’s thinking. Everything has become global now. People make you insecure because everything comes down to numbers. Buri film hai toh bhi chal jaati hai aur achchi hai toh bhi nahin chalti.

My whole family has risen together. Thanks to Waheguru, things have become really good for us. Love and affection from people was always there, but it has surely increased this year.

I am the same. I think people have reinvented me! When I was doing Gadar 2, people said, ‘Yeh kya kar raha hai? Purana director, purani film, ghatiya hai’. I used to try and sign with the newer [artiste management] companies that tell you who to work with. But, whenever I interacted with them, nothing made sense. So, I decided to stick to my guns.

I remember whispering into Salman’s (Khan; actor) ear, ‘Tu mereko bulaata tha apni parties mein aur main nahin aata tha... S**le tu mere yahaan aa hi gaya’. There was a lot of warmth.

It is debatable. I believe in having something if I deserve it, rather than running around people or begging for it. That’s why I became a producer.

Commercial cinema has always been there and will always be around. Aaj kal opening weekend ke chakkar mein sab chale jaate hain film dekhne. Even if they don’t like it, they don’t say anything. When Gadar 2 released, we didn’t have many screens (the film clashed with OMG 2). If we had more screens, things would have been bigger. We didn’t get screens overseas either. Despite that, the film opened more avenues. Single screens that were shut opened up. Their business was 100 times more than they’d ever done.

Everybody has moved on in life and is mentally happy and secure with what they have. When they were younger, they weren’t like that. Now, everybody is happy and satisfied. Time is a healer. I was happy that everyone turned up at my party.