Ameesha Patel reveals Sunny Deol turned director for ‘Gadar’ after Anil Sharma lost patience over her retakes

Mumbai, July 2 (IANS) Actress Ameesha Patel recalled how Sunny Deol stepped in the shoes of a director for her, during the shooting of ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ for a few scenes.

The actress revealed that she initially struggled a lot with emotionally demanding scenes, and director Anil Sharma would become frustrated over her repeated retakes.

Appearing as a special guest on ‘India’s Best Dancer Season 5’, Ameesha opened up about her experience of shooting the 2001 blockbuster.

She revealed that she was a newcomer at the time and was simultaneously filming ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ and ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’, making it a challenging phase in her career.

She further revealed that portraying Sakeena demanded the maturity of a seasoned actor, often leaving her stuck during difficult scenes.

“‘Gadar’ ek aisa kirdar tha Sakeena ka, that you needed to be a very seasoned actor. Toh bahut time pe, jab main set pe hoti thi main atak jaati thi aur main shot nahi de paati thi. My director Anil Sharma chilla-chilla ke retake pe retake lete the. Sunny ji itne patient the, Anil ji ko bolte the aap set se bahar jao and as a director he would take over and voh shot woh ek take mein okay ho jata. I think woh samajhte the ek actor ke point of view se ki actor kaha phass raha hain. In action sequences ya very emotional sequences unhone mera itna saath diya.”

( ‘Gadar’ had a character like Sakeena, for which you needed to be a very seasoned actor. So a lot of times, when I was on the set, I would get stuck and wouldn’t be able to deliver the shot. My director Anil Sharma would shout and take retake after retake. Sunny ji was so patient; he would tell Anil ji to step off the set, and as a director, he would take over, and that shot would get approved in just one take. I think he understood from an actor’s point of view where the actor was getting stuck. He supported me so much in action sequences and very emotional sequences)

Recalling Sunny’s support, Ameesha said, “Sunny ji toh bahut hi shy hain, lekin mere saath bahut khul gaye the. Log actually set pe hairan hote the ki Ameesha aur Sunny ki bonding itni zabardast kaise hain. Woh bahut hi protective the, mujhe kuch hota tha toh pehle aa khade rehte the. Main ekdum nayi thi, ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ aur ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ parallel shoot kar rahi thi. And bahut hi alag kism ki filmein thein.”

(Sunny ji is actually very shy, but he really opened up with me. People on the set were actually surprised at how amazing the bonding between Ameesha and Sunny was. He was very protective; if anything happened to me, he would be the first one to stand by me. I was completely new, shooting ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ and ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ parallelly. And they were very different kinds of films)

Ameesha further also reflected on the phenomenal success of ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’, saying that she was told it became one of the biggest blockbuster in the history of Indian cinema.

Talking about the movie, ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ was directed by Anil Sharma and went on to become one of Indian cinema’s biggest commercial successes of Bollywood.

The movie starred Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, Lillette Dubey and the late Amrish Puri in pivotal roles.

Its sequel, ‘Gadar 2’, released in 2023 and also emerged as a blockbuster at the box office.

—IANS

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