As Border 2 hits theaters, Diljit Dosanjh reveals how he couldn't watch Border in 1997 due to lack of money

Border 2 finally hit theatres this Friday and, as trade buzz anticipated, the war epic has stormed the box office on its opening day. The multi-starrer featuring Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty registered an impressive Rs 30 crore nett on Day 1, instantly placing itself among the most impactful Hindi openers of 2026 and second biggest ever day 1 collection of January . The film was also able to nudge past DHurandhar's Day 1 collection.

The scale of the opening signals a moment of optimism for the film. It is assumed that war dramas with patriotic undertones have always performed strongly across India but this a myth- there are only handful of war films that have worked wonders at the box office. Border 2 taps not only inot nostalgia but also curiosity, nostalgia for the legacy of J.P. Dutta’s Border (1997), and curiosity for how the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict would be reinterpreted for a new generation of audiences. Sunny Deol’s box office pull post-Gadar 2 has added clear momentum, while Diljit Dosanjh, Varun Dhawan and Ahan Shetty are boosting the film’s reach among younger urban viewers. .




Off screen, one of the most heartwarming anecdotes surrounding the film came from Diljit himself during a recent social media interaction with fans. In a video shared on X, the actor spoke candidly in Punjabi about how as a child he wanted to go and see the original Border in theaters but neither he nor his family had money to buy the ticket. He said, “I remember when the first Border came, many around me went to watch it but I couldn’t because I didn’t have the money for it. My family also didn’t have any money to spare. I really wanted to watch the film then but little did I know that I would get the chance to be in the sequel one day.”

He also spoke about the characeter he plays in the film “Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon ji’s character, what a wonderful character! If you have never read about him, some people know about it, but you should definitely read and understand his life.”

With strong word-of-mouth and the weekend surge still ahead, Border 2 has entered the theatrical battlefield with momentum and now all eyes on the Republic Day weekend.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”