Ameesha Patel Says 'A-list Producers' Advised Her Against Doing Gadar: 'You're A Kid' | Exclusive

22 years after its release, the makers of Gadar: Ek Prem Katha re-released the period romance actioner last Friday (June 9) in a remastered 4K Resolution and Dolby Atmos audio format in theatres across Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur. Its lead actors Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel attended the premiere of the film in Mumbai amid immense fanfare. Owing to the excitement of the masses, Zee Studios also decided to keep a ‘buy one get one free’ offer for the fans, which continued till yesterday (June 11). Interestingly, on the first day, the occupancy in theatres was more than 50 percent and various shows even went houseful in the northern belt. The makers attached the teaser of Gadar 2 at the end of Gadar and it is all set to be officially launched across social media platforms today.

In an exclusive chat with News18, Ameesha shares her excitement about the re-release of the film, which went on to create euphoria among the audiences upon its release on June 15, 2001. She tells us that though she couldn’t anticipate the waves it created at the box office, she had an inkling that the film would remain etched in the minds of the audience. “I always have a gut feeling about certain things. I didn’t know that it would become the massive monster that it became but I just fell in love with the subject and felt like I had to do it. Every time I would shoot, I felt I was working on something beautiful and soulful,” she says.

Ameesha continues, “You can, of course, never tell the scale of success for a film. Sometimes, beautiful films also don’t work at the box office. But all I knew was that I was a part of a very beautiful project. It was a heartfelt, passionate film. Everyone on that project was extremely passionate and committed.”

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Walking down the memory lane and reminiscing how she became a part of the film, she says, “When I had signed Gadar, I wasn’t a star and I wasn’t known. I was six months into the shoot of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (200). I was very new in the film industry.” The Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002) and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (2007) actor adds, “When I was called into the office and heard the narration of Gadar, I fell in love with it. I was called by Mr Nittin Keni (producer), who was then the creative producer for Zee and he was the one who chose me.”

However, Ameesha reveals that she has dissuaded from doing Gadar by many in the film industry but she chose to turn a deaf ear to them. She elaborates, “A lot of A-list producers and directors advised me against doing the film. They told me, ‘How can you take such a difficult role at such a young age? You’re coming as a college kid with Hrithik (Roshan; actor). You’re a kid! You’re still in college. How is it that you want to play a mother and that too of a seven-year-old child? How will you get into that era?’ They also said that there’s an age difference between me and Sunny.”

On a related note, Gadar 2 is all set to hit the big screen on August 11 this year. Anil Sharma has returned to direct the sequel and it will see Sunny, Ameesha and Utkarsh Sharma reprising their roles.