When someone says Nana Patekar, I think of how jovial he was, and the ease that he worked with. Sometimes on sets, he would serve food to people, other times he would cook for everyone. It’s very difficult to find someone as simple as him.

He was a knowledgeable man, a great artiste, a greater human being, and more than that, a remarkable social activist. He would walk miles in rural areas to help the under-privileged, especially with the water-related issues that they faced.

The talk about him being difficult to work with never had any truth in it. I would say that after Dharam ji [Dharmendra], Nana Patekar ji was the easiest actor to work with. There were talks happening about us collaborating on Gadar 3, but now [that will remain an unfulfilled wish].

I last spoke to him a few months ago. I had thought of visiting him this Ganpati, but I couldn’t make it. Now I feel jo karna hai, turant karlena chahiye.

Filmmaker Anil Sharma says he knew Gadar: Ek Prem Katha would become a landmark the moment he first heard the script, and 25 years later, he feels it is “still alive in people’s hearts”.

“The day Shaktimaan Talwar narrated the story, I knew it had the potential to become India’s biggest hit film… I tried to make it at the level of Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Sholay (1975),” he says, adding that the film recorded nearly 10 crore footfalls, a feat unmatched even today. “Even Gadar 2 had half of this footfall,” he adds.

Recalling its 2001 release alongside Aamir Khan’s Lagaan, he says, “There was no competition like today… people would watch one film and then another back-to-back. Woh marketing nahi, woh dil ka daur tha.”

On Gadar 3, he teases, “Gadar ki story ek bomb thi, sab kahte rahe par Gadar 2 tab bani jab ek atom bomb story mili. Now, Gadar 3 will only happen if we have a nuclear bomb story. We are working on the script and God-willing if all goes on track we will start it next year!”

From Border 2 to Gadar 3, Sunny Deol is amused by the many sequel speculations doing the rounds. Gadar 2 (2023) was a blockbuster, which has led the rumour mill to work in overdrive.

“People like to speculate,” says the actor. Clearing the air, he adds, “These rumours have been there since Gadar 2 released; ‘Yeh part 2 kar raha hai, voh part 2 kar raha hai’. Arrey, kitni sequels kar raha hoon? Har cheez ke rumours hain. I will announce it myself.”

The 66-year-old’s next, Lahore 1947, will be directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. “Gadar 2 was successful, so this film is happening,” says Deol, adding, “We’ve been working on this film for the past 15-17 years, but it wasn’t happening. Gadar 2 opened a lot of doors for us. People have seen us (Santoshi and Deol) working together in three films in different genres, and all were masterpieces.”

They have worked on Ghayal (1990), Damini (1993) and Ghatak (1996). While signing new projects, Deol doesn’t feel “insecure” or think about “people’s expectations” from him. “If I love the subject, I will do the character,” he ends.