Apne 2: After Dharmendra's Death, Director Anil Sharma And Producer Deepak Mukut Confuse Fans About Sequel

After Dharmendra's death on November 24, film industry has been in a state of mourning. His passing has left a vacuum in Bollywood which will never be filled. A similar sentiment was echoed by director Anil Sharma when he shared that the planned sequel to Apne would be "incomplete" without the veteran star, who featured in first installment of the family drama in 2007. 

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Apne featured Dharmendra with his sons, Sunny and Bobby Deol, for the first time. In the heartfelt sports drama about family, redemption and second chances, Dharmendra played Baldev Chaudhary, an ageing former boxer seeking to reclaim his lost honour. Sunny and Bobby portrayed his sons Angad and Karan, respectively, who follow in the footsteps of their father.

Anil had been developing the sequel for many years, with the team announcing it officially in 2020. The project was also set to feature Dharmendra’s grandson Karan Deol alongside the original trio. After Dharmendra's death, Anil signaled at shelving Apne 2, when he said, "some stories remain incomplete".

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In another interview, Apne producer Deepak Mukut shared that making the sequel was much more important now, hinting that the project was still on, even after Dharmendra's passing. Deepak has now countered Anil's claims about scrapping Apne 2.  

He told Bollywood Hungama, “On the contrary, Apne must be made now, more than ever before. We were working on the project with Dharam ji. Now Sunny (Deol) and I are going to work on Apne as a homage to Dharam ji. He will be there in the project in spirit. Apne featured Dharam ji with Sunny and Bobby. Apne 2 will also have Sunny’s son Karan in stellar role. I will be sitting down with Sunny over this as soon as the mourning period finishes.”

As per the producer, Anil might even be replaced in Apne 2 if the situation demands. “He is not authorised to make such a rash statement. I wonder why he said this. He denies having made such a statement. But how can he be quoted on something so sensitive if he didn’t say it? It is not Anil Sharma’s call to go ahead with the project or not. It is up to Sunny and I to take the project ahead and we are going ahead full throttle. We owe it to Dharam ji and his fans all over the world,” Deepak further said.