Anil Sharma’s latest directorial ‘Gadar 2’ is actually ruling the box office, and the filmmaker has now mentioned how several fans have called him up to urge him to "send" Gadar 2 to the Oscars.
Speaking to Indian Express, Sharma said that even ‘Gadar Ek Prem Katha’ deserved to go to the Academy Awards.
For the unversed, ‘Gadar 2’ starring Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma in lead roles, released last month. While it opened to mixed reviews, the film has been breaking box office records ever since. It is being termed as the success of films that do not usually get awards.
“People are calling me repeatedly to send the film to the Oscars. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) didn’t go, so I don’t know how Gadar 2 will go, but we are at it. But Gadar 2 should go; the film deserves it. Gadar also deserved it. Gadar was based on the 1947 partition, and we told the story in a very different way. It was a new and original story, and Gadar 2 is also a new and original story," Anil told the daily. That year, Aamir Khan's Lagaan was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, recalling Dharmendra's statement that he felt he wasn't part of the industry, the filmmaker added that he felt the same as he wondered why the people who sat on the award panels think they are not deserving for the awards.
“We have touched people’s hearts with Gadar 2. I won’t lie, but even we want awards. But I didn't expect it because I knew that I wouldn’t get it. I hear there is lots of lobbying and PR involved in these things, and I am not a political person. I have never lobbied for awards,” he said.
Directed by Sharma, ‘Gadar 2’ is a sequel to his 2001 film which also featured Sunny, Ameesha, and Utkarsh. The new film has the backdrop of the political tensions ahead of the Indo-Pak war in 1971. The first film, ‘Gadar Ek Prem Katha’, on other hand, was the love story of a young Sikh man who falls in love with a Pakistani girl right during the Indo-Pak partition.