Gadar 2

Gadar 2 (subtitled onscreen with The Katha Continues) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language period action drama film directed and produced by Anil Sharma and written by Shaktimaan Talwar. A sequel to Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), it stars Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma reprising their roles from the previous film. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Tara Singh returns to Pakistan in order to rescue his imprisoned son Charanjeet "Jeete" Singh.

Gadar 2 was theatrically released on 11 August 2023 to generally negative reviews from critics. It became a commercial success, grossing over inr 6910800000 worldwide against a production budget of inr 600000000. It is the fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2023 and the eighth highest-grossing Hindi film of all-time.

Plot
In 1954, Hamid Iqbal, the General of Pakistan Army, wants to exact vengeance on Tara Singh for eliminating his 40 soldiers during Tara's escape from Pakistan with wife Sakeena and son Charanjeet "Jeete". Iqbal gets Sakeena's father Ashraf Ali executed for aiding Tara in his escape to India.

In 1971, Tara, a goods supplier to the Indian Army cantonment, lives with Sakeena and Jeete, who soon leaves for Chandigarh for his studies. One day, Tara is contacted by Lt. Colonel Devendra Rawat for help in supplying Indian soldiers with weapons as a skirmish is taking place with the Pakistani soldiers at the border during the Third Indo-Pak War. After reaching there, Tara is spotted by Iqbal, who orders an explosion at the border, leading to many of the soldiers getting captured. Jeete returns from Chandigarh to find Sakeena in shambles. Upon learning about Tara's disappearance at the border, Jeete leaves for Pakistan against everyone's wishes to rescue Tara.

After arriving in Pakistan, Jeete meets Tara's close friend Gul Khan, who helps him secure a job at Kurban Khan's hotel, which supplies food to the captive Indian soldiers. Jeete meets and gets close to Kurban's daughter Muskaan, who continues to support him upon learning that Jeete is an Indian and had come there to rescue his father. Jeete infiltrates the prison only to get captured and discovers that Tara was never captured. On the other hand, Tara resurfaces in Punjab and reunites with Sakeena, revealing that he fell into a stream and was rescued by a Bakarwal tribe, but went into a coma. Upon learning that Jeete is in Pakistan and his communication has stopped, Tara leaves for Pakistan to extract Jeete from prison.

Landing in Pakistan, Tara meets Gul Khan and learns about Jeete's capture. Iqbal beats up Jeete and gets him publicly humiliated by falsely accusing him of assaulting Muskaan, who is forced to lie to protect Kurban. However, Tara arrives and escapes with Jeete amidst the Pakistani army. Yahya Khan, the President of Pakistan and the Commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, orders a humiliated Iqbal to capture Tara within 72 hours. Tara and his team contact Sakeena, but are chased by Iqbal's men, eventually getting separated. Following a series of combats and chases, Tara and Jeete finally reunite and are on their way to leave Pakistan when Muskaan and Kurban Khan shows up with their family, who are planning to leave for Balochistan.

Kurban Khan asks Tara to accept Muskaan as Jeete's bride, to which Jeete and Tara happily agree. However, Iqbal captures them in an ambush and kills Muskaan's brother Farid. Iqbal tries to execute them but Tara frees himself and with Jeete fights the army singlehandedly, escaping with everybody in a army tank. They arrive at the Indian border, where Iqbal again tries to kill Tara, but is gunned down by Rawat and the Indian soldiers. Rawat approves Jeete to enlist in the army, while Tara, Jeete and Muskaan reunite with Sakeena.

Cast
Archive footage from the first film and CGI was used for Amrish Puri's character as Ashraf Ali, Sakeena's father.

Development
Zee Studios, Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma officially announced Gadar 2: The Katha Continues on 15 October 2021 (Dusshera) on their social media accounts, revealing the release date 2022 with motion poster. The first poster of the sequel titled Gadar 2 was unveiled on 26 January 2023 (Republic Day) and it shows Tara Singh, played by Sunny, with a hammer.

Casting
Sunny Deol reprises his role of Tara Singh, but was initially hesitant about revisiting the role, believing that films like Gadar: Ek Prem Katha can be made only once in history. He states, "We had made Gadar but the audience made it a Blockbuster. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about whether we would do justice and continue the legacy of the first part." The film's director Anil Sharma revealed how he convinced Deol to return, stating, "When I narrated Gadar 2, Sunny was a little hesitant because he felt Gadar was a blockbuster and didn't want to meddle with it. But I requested him that the entire nation has been requesting a sequel and we should respect their emotions. After many calls, he finally agreed to hear the story. When we sat down for narration and finished it, he had tears in his eyes. That's how the journey of Gadar 2 started."

Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma also reprise their roles of Sakeena and Charanjeet "Jeete" Singh from the first film. Simrat Kaur was also cast for the film. Manish Wadhwa was offered the role of a Pakistani army general in the film. Rohit Choudhary, was also cast in the role of a Pakistani army general in the film. Luv Sinha and Gaurav Chopra have also been cast in important role. The shoot of the film was wrapped up by May 2023. Writer Shaktimaan revealed the character of Gul Khan played by Mushtaq Khan was based on a real person Qasi Sahab who gave his father shelter in his home during the communal riots.

Ashraf Ali, Sakeena's father, played by Amrish Puri in the first film; also appears in this film. Puri died in 2005 and his likeness was used to bring back the character through archive footage from Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and computer-generated imagery.

Soundtrack
The film's music is composed by Mithoon, Uttam Singh (uncredited) and Monty Sharma, while lyrics are written by Sayeed Quadri and Sunil Sirvaiya. Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik reprise their roles as the singing voices of Deol and Patel, respectively.

The first single titled "Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava" was released on 29 June 2023. The second single titled "Khairiyat" was released on 9 July 2023. The third single titled "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke" was released on 20 July 2023. The soundtrack album released by Zee Music Company on 4 August 2023, followed by an extended album on 8 September 2023.

Release
Gadar 2 was theatrically released on 11 August 2023. The box-office response prompted several cinemas to play post-midnight and early morning shows of the film.

Home media
The film was premiered on ZEE5 from 6 October 2023. It enjoyed a highly successful launch, quickly topping global viewership charts upon its release.

Box office
On its opening day, Gadar 2 collected a total India net of inr 401000000. In its first weekend, it collected over inr 1348800000, making it ninth top opening weekend for Hindi films.

As of 14 September 2023, the film has grossed inr 6255400000 in India, with a further inr 655400000.0000001 in overseas, for a worldwide total of inr 6910800000.

Critical response
Taran Adarsh gave the film 4.5/5 stars and wrote “Gadar 2 is old-school desi entertainment at its best. Sunny Deol returns to the big screen with a vengeance… He is as ferocious as ever. The patriotic flavour coupled with tremendous recall value will make it a huge money-spinner. Gadar 2 lives up to massive expectations… Has it all: drama, emotions, action, two beautiful songs [from the first part] and the hand pump sequence, of course. Anil Sharma makes sure he packs every ingredient on the shelf to create a big-screen entertainer.”

Anindita Mukherjee from India Today gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Gadar 2 supersedes expectations, as it successfully tugs at your heartstrings. And there's Sunny Paaji to do all the heavy-lifting (pun intended). Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "What we can confirm is that Sunny paaji can still snarl effectively, and that dhai-kilo-ka-haath has residual potency. We can also confirm the reappearance of a hand-pump.

Anuj Kumar from The Hindu wrote "It is not as provocative as the original as driver Anil Sharma seeks to take a middle path. Perhaps, it feels like that because the socio-political atmosphere outside the theatre has become much more dramatic and shrill than what it was when the original released in 2001. Still, it is good that Sharma has toned down the jingoistic tone." Komal Nahta said that "Gadar 2’ is not a film, it’s a celebration, an emotion that touches the heart of every Indian." Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times wrote "Gadar 2 does falter in terms of story and its pace, though it brings back the mass entertainment and that can surely make it a paisa vasool watch."

Gadar 2 also became the first film screened for Lok Sabha members in the New Parliament building.

Sequel
A sequel was announced during the end credits. Anil Sharma said "You'll have to wait for that. The fruit of patience is sweet, just like this one (Gadar 2). Some thoughts have come to me and Shaktimaan Ji's minds. So just wait everything will happen.”