New Delhi: Nidhi Dutta, writer and producer of Border 2, said she remained anxious about the film’s release until about a month ago, but felt reassured after screening the film for her father, filmmaker JP Dutta, who made the first Border movie in 1997, and the Ministry of Defence.
“My father tearing up was my National Award. And when the Ministry of Defence watched the film and were so happy, that felt like my Oscars,” Dutta told ThePrint.
She admits, however, that there are still some nerves about how the country will receive the film.
“I hope everyone feels proud in the way my father does. There is a lot of responsibility and emotion attached to this,” she said.
Border 2, starring Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty, Sunny Deol, Diljit Dosanjh, among others, is set to release in theatres on 23 January.
JP Dutta’s Border is widely regarded as a cult classic and continues to be remembered even today. The portrayal of the military on the big screen is often seen as divided into pre-Border and post-Border eras, as JP Dutta’s film was among the first in Indian cinema to bring soldiers’ stories to the forefront. Complete with the now classic tropes of the waiting mother, the longing wife, and the emotional undercurrents that resonated with audiences throughout the country.
When Border was made, Dutta was just 7 years old. Today, she is carrying forward her father’s legacy. But the producer is very clear that Border 2 is not a sequel to the 1997 film.
“There is no continuation. It is called Part 2 because it focuses on another chapter of the 1971 war. More importantly, the intention is not to carry forward a brand or franchise, which takes away the fear of the outcome. The intention is simply to tell the stories of our brave hearts, just like my father’s. If even half the country comes to know about Major Hoshiar Singh Dahiya or other officers, that will be our victory, as father and daughter,” she said.
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‘One father-daughter team’
Dutta’s first film as a producer was Paltan (2018), based on the 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes along the Sikkim border. With Border 2, she steps in not only as a producer but also as a writer.
Speaking about her long-standing connection with the armed forces, Dutta says it is deeply rooted in her upbringing and family history.
“My home was always driven by the armed forces. My father’s younger brother was in the Air Force and was part of the 1971 war. There’s a saying, ‘In peacetime, a son cremates his father, but in wartime, a father cremates his son.’ We are a family that has lived that reality,” she said.
Stories and anecdotes about her father from her childhood have stayed with her over the years and have shaped this soft spot for war films. Dutta recalled one New Year’s Eve when she was 12 years old, when her father looked up the temperature in Siachen.
“It was minus 52 degrees. He told me, ‘You are able to celebrate the New Year with your family because those boys cannot. They are stationed at the border. So spare a thought for them and wish them in your heart.’ That is the upbringing I had,” Dutta explained.
The producer-writer agrees that Border will always remain the benchmark for patriotic films, and that every war movie since will inevitably be compared to it. In recent years, Indian cinema has seen a surge of war films, and Dutta welcomes the trend.
“We are just one father-daughter team. It’s impossible for us to tell all the stories. I hope more war films are made, and more stories of soldiers are brought to the screen,” she said.
Despite the crowded genre, Dutta believes Border 2 will bring a sense of freshness. When asked what sets the film apart, she said, “What sets Border apart will set my film apart too.”
“When someone comes from an armed forces background, the emotions hit differently, and that’s true for Border 2 as well. I shared my bedroom with my grandfather for the first 17 years of my life. He was a man who cremated his son, who wasn’t even 30. Those emotions cannot be felt by just anyone,” she added.
Dutta also spoke about reviving ‘Sandese Aate Hai’, the iconic song from Border that continues to resonate even today and has been recreated for Border 2. Like the original version sung by Sonu Nigam and Roopkumar Rathod, the new rendition is over ten minutes long. Titled ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’, the song features fresh lyrics while retaining the original tune, and is sung by Anu Malik, Mithoon, Sonu Nigam, and Arijit Singh.
Dutta said she was clear from the very beginning about bringing ‘Sandese Aate Hai’ back in Border 2, a vision that was shared by co-producer and Managing Director T-Series Bhushan Kumar as well. She credits lyricist Manoj Muntashir Shukla for writing words that, much like the original, stir powerful emotions in the listener.
She is aware that remakes and recreations of beloved original songs often face scepticism in the age of social media. However, Dutta remains confident that this version will resonate with audiences.
“The reason this recreation will work, unlike many others, is the intention behind it. Our intention in bringing back ‘Sandese Aate Hai’ was to tell more stories of soldiers. There is no way you can listen to the song and not feel a connection,” she said.
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Sunny Deol is ‘Border’
Sunny Deol played the role of Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri in Border. In Border 2, he will be seen as Lt Col Fateh Singh Kaler. Dutta, who fondly calls him ‘Sunny Uncle’ says that if there is anyone apart from her father who embodies ‘Border’ and the emotion of it, it’s Sunny Deol.
“He is Border. He will always be Border for us. We knew he was the only person who could play that character,” Dutta said, stating that she cannot wait for the audience to see Deol on screen. She recalled that she had a “fangirl moment” when the actor walked on set the first day, all decked up in his uniform.
Much like Deol, Dutta said she had the cast in mind while writing the script. For instance, when she was writing the character of Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, she envisioned Dosanjh in the role from the get-go.
“I always wanted to cast him. If you meet officers from the Army, Navy, or Air Force, each has a distinct body language. An Army officer, for example, speaks and carries himself very differently, yet they are the same,” she said.
Dutta also felt that Major Hoshiar Singh Dahiya’s passion could only be carried convincingly by Dhawan, while the grit required for the role of the navy officer MS Rawat was something she believed Shetty possessed.
She recalled that when she met Kumar and they decided to collaborate on the film, their thoughts on the casting aligned perfectly.
Quoting her father, she said that when making a film on a Param Vir Chakra or Mahavir Chakra awardee, or on soldiers in general, the characters are not really chosen by the filmmakers.
“My father would always say, ‘It’s the soldier, watching from heaven, who chooses who will play them on screen.’ On the first day of the shoot, Dad even wrote a letter to Varun and all the actors, telling them that they were not cast by us, but had been chosen to walk in the footsteps of soldiers who laid down their lives for the country,” Dutta said.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)