Did you know Dharmendra and Dilip Kumar’s reunion never saw the light of day because of Sunny Deol’s ‘Gadar’? Director Anil Sharma calls it a REGRET of his life

In 2001, when Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel starrer ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ made it to the big screens, it broke all records. It not only kept the cash registers ringing at the box office but also garnered love from the audience for decades. From the iconic handpump scene to Sunny Deol and Amrish Puri’s face-off, the songs, and every element of the movie left an everlasting impression. However, did you know that making this movie came with its own cost? Did you know that due to ‘Gadar,’ Dharmendra and Dilip Kumar’s film got shelved?

Read on to know more about what exactly happened

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‘Gadar’ director Anil Sharma shares a REGRET of his life

After almost two decades, Dharmendra and Dilip Kumar were supposed to star together in an Anil Kumar movie titled ‘Kashmir.’ This film would bring the two stars back together on the big screen after ‘Anokha Milan.’ However, fate had something else in store for Anil Sharma, as ‘Kashmir’ never went on the floors, as his priority shifted to making ‘Gadar.’ Recalling the same, he told News18 that he really wanted to work with Dilip Kumar but couldn’t. “Woh meri life ki ek regret hai (it is a regret of my life).”

He shared that before ‘Gadar,’ he was working on another film titled ‘Kashmir,’ for which he spoke to Dharmendra and Dilip Kumar. Both actors agreed to the movie, but then something else happened.

‘Gadar’ began as a subplot

Anil Sharma further explained that while he was working on the movie that was supposed to star Dharmendra and Dilip Kumar, he was looking at a subplot that involved a Pakistani girl and a Kashmiri boy. “And that’s where I stumbled upon the story of Gadar. I found Gadar when I was actually looking for a subplot for Kashmir,” said the director.

“So, I thought of focusing on Gadar, and I decided to make Kashmir later. That never happened, but Gadar got made," he continued.

The director said he had this feeling in his gut that ‘Gadar’ would reach great heights, and thus, he decided to put everything else on hold. However, he regrets not being able to work with Dilip Kumar in this whole process.

When Dilip Kumar gave Anil Kumar his blessing for ‘Gadar’

The ‘Apne’ director also mentioned that when Dilip Kumar got to know about ‘Gadar,’ he simply gave his blessing to him for the project and told him to follow his heart. Anil Sharma recalled, “Dilip Kumar was Dilip Kumar. It wouldn’t bother him if a film didn’t get made. He was bigger than any film, and he also had too many films in the pipeline. But he really encouraged me to make Gadar.”

“He patted my back and told me, ‘Laale, tera jo mann kare, tu woh hi kar,” he shared.