On 11th August 2023 India will witness the start of a potentially action-pack battle as 3 films, which will attempt to attract significant viewership, will be release, Anil Sharma’s period action drama Gadar 2: The Katha Continues starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s action thriller Animal starring Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna and Amit Rai’s satirical comedy OMG 2 starring Akshay Kumar and Yami Gautam.
As Akshay Kumar has had a string of theatrical failures so he can propel OMG 2 to success, if the content generates positive feedback at the outset.
Animal, whose pre-teaser has receive a positive response, is sure of good viewership in the first weekend before feedback decides its fate.
The surprise could be Gadar 2, the sequel to Sharma’s period action drama Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), a blockbuster set during the Partition of India in 1947.
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha is a film from a different era.
The film features Sunny Deol as Tara Singh, a truck driver who falls in love with and marries an affluent Muslim girl, Sakina (Ameesha Patel).
What happens after Sakina, who gets separate from her parents, discovers they are alive forms the core of the story.
Gadar is more than three hours long, not the sort of run time modern-day filmmakers prefer.
The film is a pop classic for Sunny Deol fans, who remember it fondly for its larger-than-life hero, punchy dialogues and audience-friendly sequences of the kind in which Tara Singh takes out the hand pump from the ground with his bare hands.
Sunny Deol had won many hearts as the man at the centre of action after Gadar was release.
Those who have seen Sunny Deol’s films since the start of his career, may not have realise that he will complete 39 years as an actor this year.
Among the leading Bollywood stars of the 1980s and ’90s, he also experience political success in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after he contest as a BJP candidate and won to become a Member of Parliament from the Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab.
The famous eldest son of Dharmendra, his more famous father, Sunny Deol’s popularity is mainly because of his image of an action hero in commercial cinema.
His well-sculpted physique has the subject of admiration.
The actor has also testified to his comfort in tender romantic moments and exhibited good comic timing when necessary.
His one weakness has been his inability to score pass marks in dancing.
A soft-spoken man, Sunny Deol maintains a low profile and prefers to spend his time away from the spotlight.
Among those actors, who have experience success with their first film, he had debut in Rahul Rawail’s romance Betaab (1983) opposite Amrita Singh, who was also making her debut.
Tailor-made for film-goers of the 1980s, Betaab, whose highlight was its two new stars, became a huge success.
Both Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh acquire many fans overnight, and it seem they were destined to become big stars.
As Amrita Singh’s decision of taking a decade-long break after appearing in a supporting role in Mansoor Ahmed Siddiqui’s successful romance Rang (1993) result in her disappearance from public view.
Sunny Deol’s popularity had its peak in the 1980s and ’90s.
Appearing as an amateur boxer accuse of his brother’s murder in Rajkumar Santoshi’s action drama Ghayal (1990), his performance made viewers flock to the theatres and also won him the National Film Award.
The story of his self-directed 2016 sequel Ghayal: Once Again, continues from where Ghayal ends.
It was reasonably successful, but fail to match the popularity and appeal of its predecessor.
Many Sunny Deol fans believe his most memorable performance is in the supporting role of an alcoholic lawyer in Rajkumar Santoshi’s crime drama Damini (1993), which revolves around a woman who seeks justice for her housemaid who has rape by her brother-in-law and his friends.
Although the story focuses on the woman who is determine to ensure that the criminals do not escape punishment, Sunny Deol’s dialogues such as “Tarikh par Tarikh milti rahi hai, lekin insaaf nahi mila, my lord!” and “Dhai kilo ka haath” made film-goers cheer loudly inside movie halls.
More than these dialogues Sunny Deol play his character to perfection, which contribute significantly to the critical and commercial success of this first-rate woman-centric film.
His list of successes includes many commercial hits such as Yash Chopra’s romantic thriller Darr (1993), Raj Kanwar’s romantic action drama Jeet (1996), Rajkumar Santoshi’s action drama Ghatak (1996), JP Dutta’s ensemble cast war film Border (1997) and Rahul Rawail’s crime drama Arjun Pandit (1999).
Sunny Deol has appeare in the successful Anil Sharma sports drama Apne (2007) with his father Dharmendra and younger brother Bobby Deol.
He has also appeare with them in the Yamla Pagla Deewana series of three action comedy films, the first of which title Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) direct by Samir Karnik was a perfect fun-fill entertainer that became a commercial success.
RRD’s Opinion
Those who love Sunny Deol’s image of an action hero must gravitate to the theatres in huge numbers if Gadar 2 has to succeed.
The film’s box-office returns in the first weekend will get affect because of the avoidable clash with two films, mainly Animal which also features Bobby Deol.
But if Anil Sharma and Sunny Deol succeed in delivering a film with the right amount of spice, it might emerge as a surprise at the box office.
Rahul Ram Dwivedi (RRD) is a senior journalist in 2YoDoINDIA.
NOTE : Views expressed are personal.
