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INTERVIEW: ‘Two of Indian cinema’s biggest grossers belong to the Deol Family’: Anil Sharma on Gadar & Sholay
Director Anil Sharma opens up on twenty years of his partition love story with Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and explains why it's difficult to make a sequel to this iconic film.
Anil Sharma describes June 15, 2001, the release date of Gadar and Lagaan, as a film festival for the audience. The filmmaker informs that it was a different era altogether wherein people accept both Gadar and Lagaan. “The audience watched back-to-back shows of the two films. It wasn’t the weekend era,” he recalls, adding further, “But today, times have changed because we don’t have faith in the content. We just think of the weekend business, but back then, everyone wanted to make a long run cinema. I feel those days will be back.”
Sharma insists that his iconic film, Gadar with Sunny Deol, which proved to be the highest grossing Indian film of all time up on it’s release, now belongs to the audience. While he didn’t anticipate the things to blow out of proportion, he admits that the entire team of Gadar knew that they had made something special. “I had reactions in advance. Sunny sir had kept a special Industry show in Chandan for 1000 people and everyone went berserk over the content. It was a unanimous positive reaction and we felt, this could be India’s Titanic,” he informs. 
Today, we don’t have faith in the content. We just think of the weekend business, but back then, everyone wanted to make a long run cinema. I feel those days will be back.”
Anil Sharma
The director was in Ahmedabad on the release day for film promotions and early in the morning, his landline started ringing with exhibitors informing about how it’s getting difficult to control the crowd outside their cinema halls. “An exhibitor from Orissa had 3000 people standing outside his single screens, fighting for the tickets. They had not seen something like this in a long time.” Like all commercially successful films, even Gadar had received negative reviews from some media houses, however, Anil Sharma and co. were unfazed by them. “A newspaper had called it Gutter: Ek Prem Katha. I laughed reading it as 1000s of people had already loved the film by then,” he smiles.
The period drama set against the backdrop of Partition featured Sunny Deol in lead with Ameesha Patel and Amrish Puri in key roles, with the latter being the antagonist, who shifts to Pakistan due to the partition. “I thank God and the audience who took the film to the next level. Everyone aspires to make a film like Mother India, Mughal-E-Azam and Gadar, but such films can’t be made, they happen. I had some blessings, which led to this film. The Deol family is also blessed. Imagine, the father (Dharmendra) got Sholay and the son got Gadar. Of the four biggest hits of Indian cinema, two belong to the Deol family,” he shares.
A newspaper had called it Gutter: Ek Prem Katha. I laughed reading it as 1000s of people had already loved the film by then
Anil Sharma
Gadar was a juggernaut of emotions with Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) fighting against the whole of Pakistan for the love of his life, Sakeena (Ameesha Patel). The sequence where Sunny Deol pulls out the handpump has attained a cult status, though there are some who even use it in a negative light. Anil Sharma insists that no one in his team had faith to pull off the scene. “It was just Sunny and I who had the conviction to pull it off. My emotion was so strong that the character could even lift a building. Tara Singh is not Hanuman Ji, but his emotion is as strong as that. It's a lot more than just lifting the hand pump. For me, it’s Tara Singh’s outburst of emotion after being suppressed time and again by Ashraf Ali (Amrish Puri),” he avers and further adds that he got the conviction from a visual that he had seen in real life. “I remember seeing how a cat won the battle against a dog. There is no logic in emotional outbursts, they just happen. The outburst of emotion for Tara Singh was the handpump. The intellectuals can’t understand emotions.”
Anil remembers how distributors and exhibitors built their own villas and buildings from the profits of Gadar. “Yaar, Gadar Toh Gadar Tha Bhai. We had made it on a budget of 18 crore back then.” Finally, is Anil Sharma planning to spin a sequel Gadar? “The entire world wants to see Tara Singh back and I would love to make 10 films on that character. But it’s difficult to make Gadar 2. One needs a bomb of emotion, drama and grandeur. Whenever Gadar 2 is announced, you can assume that I have got that bomb,” he signs off.
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