'Border 2' producer Bhushan Kumar reveals Akshaye Khanna's cameo was not added due to 'Dhurandhar' success: 'Was already…'

'Border 2' has been making staggering box office collections since it hit the theaters. The film is a spiritual sequel to JP Dutta's 1997 iconic war drama, 'Border'. The latest release is also in the news for including AI-created footage of Akshaye Khanna, Suniel Shetty, and Sudesh Berry's characters from the first installment. Sunny Deol's character pays homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in the India-Pakistan war of 1971. At that time, characters from the previous film appear and are shown softly smiling at Sunny Deol's Lt. Col. Fateh Singh Kaler. Now the makers have come forward to reveal that the decision to include Akshaye Khanna was not taken after he went viral for 'Dhurandhar'.Also See: Border 2 Movie Review Producer Bhushan Kumar, in an interview with News18 Showsha, shared they didn't try to cash in on Khanna's popularity among the audience. He said, "You can’t make a film like that. It was already scripted. In fact, we shot his portion after 'Dhurandhar' released. The hysteria of the film and Akshaye was already there, but we never thought of [cashing in on] it. It was never required in the script. It’s not like we added him after 'Dhurandhar' released."The producer stated that it was the same for Suniel Shetty and other cameos as well. He expressed that they were not included in the script later but were already supposed to be part of 'Border 2'. He said, "I would like to urge everyone to not miss the end credits of the film. That scene featuring the cameos is very emotional."Director Anurag Singh, in the same interview, chimed in that they shot for the scene on December 10-11. He said, "Akshaye is in 'Border 2' as a tribute to 'Border'. He was a part of the story from the very beginning."Directed by Anurag Singh, the film stars Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty, and Diljit Dosanjh. The movie was released in theaters on January 23, 2026.