Did You Know Sunny Deol-Ameesha Patel Weren't The First Choice For Gadar?

Gadar 2 recently emerged as a blockbuster after 22 years since Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel first graced the screens in their iconic roles. Released during India's 77th Independence Day, the film rekindled the enthusiasm associated with its predecessor but did you know there was a different cast to begin with?

Who was the original choice to play Tara Singh in Gadar?

Contrary to the well-known pairing of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, it has been reported that the roles of Tara Singh and Sakina were initially considered for Govinda and Kajol. According to producer-director Anil Sharma, Govinda was approached, but upon hearing the role, he reportedly got "scared” and that led to the casting of Sunny Deol for the iconic character of Tara Singh.

However, Anil Sharma clarified in a throwback interview with Bollywood Hungama that Govinda was never finalised for the role and was merely narrated the story during the making of another film. Sharma mentioned, "Govinda was wondering how someone could pull off a film of this kind and scale. So Sunny Deol was always the first choice for Tara Singh."

Who was the original choice to play Sakina in Gadar?

The role of Sakina underwent several considerations before Ameesha Patel took on the part. Sharma revealed that top actresses of the time rejected the role and cited reasons such as the film being a period drama that involved getting dirty during the shoot. Despite facing initial challenges, the pairing of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel has become etched in the history of iconic films. One actress popularly named in several media reports was Kajol.

Anil once told Bollywood Bubble, Anil shared, “I don’t want to name anyone, it’s not right. But we approached several top actresses of the time. Some felt that we weren’t up to their standards, they felt Sunny Deol sahab wasn’t up to their standards; they felt they were too big for us. They felt we weren’t ‘trendy’. They used to tell us to make ‘youth-oriented’ films.”