Gadar: Ek Prem Katha was one of the most successful films of the early 2000’s, breaking several domestic records at the box office.
The Sunny Deol starred high-octane action-drama, was high on the patriotic fervor, which not only became it’s legacy over time but also gave the film and Sunny a cult following.
As the mega-superhit prepares to return with a sequel, bringing in it’s original lead pair of Sunny and Amisha Patel, the film’s team and those behind it have revealed how the original was once panned by the critics and those in the industry, before it went on to break all records.
During a recent interaction with Times Of India, Sunny Deol and the film’s director Anil Sharma, spoke of how their film was put through much scrutiny for being outdated. Here’s what they were quoted telling the publication:
“Humne toh ji wo banaya jo humein accha lag raha tha. When the film was shown to select sets, people found the music and the look of the film outdated, but we loved it.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, I was advised to dub the movie 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.”
“Despite the box office numbers, no one acknowledged the film at any award show that year.” – Sunny added.
The actor even went on to recollect how the film was calledl ‘Gutter: Ek Prem Katha’ by a critic:
“I remember, shortly before the release, Sunny Saab had a trial in Chandan cinema. A thousand people saw it, and all they did was clap, whistle, paise uda rahe the screen pe and what not! They loved it. Eventually, the film got the cash registers flowing with numbers. Theatres ran packed to capacity for weeks. One theatre owner called fearing uska theatre public ki bheed sey toot jayega. And then, I saw a review called my film Gutter: Ek Prem Katha. I kept it aside because the public verdict was already pretty clear.”
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All things in the past now, as Gadar – on the shoulders of it’s juggernaut original released in the year 2001, is coming with a sequel in 2022.
All we can say is – stay prepared for mass-level entertainment.