Gadar 2 (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – Set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Tara Singh returns to Pakistan to bring his son, Charanjeet, back.

My Take – Released in 2001 alongside the widely acclaimed Academy Award nominated Aamir Khan starrer Lagaan, the Anil Sharma directorial Gadar: Ek Prem Katha went on to become an all-time blockbuster, amassing several box office records at its time.

Lauded for its soundtrack, its lead turns from Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel (fresh off her massive debut with Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai) and its patriotic fervor, the jingoistic tone resonated with the masses on a large scale who particularly lapped up its many whistle-worthy moments. Now amid huge buzz and expectations, a sequel has finally arrive 22 years later, with Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma reprising their roles, and director Anil Sharma once again behind the megaphone calling the shots.

As one would expect, the sequel follows the same pattern of the predecessor by arranging the characters differently, and by serving up dollops of nostalgia that are bolstered by harking back to two of the original film’s most popular songs, however, returning writer Shaktiman Talwar unfortunately offers very little freshness in terms of its character arcs, setting and a premise that works in parts but also stays sluggish throughout.

Even the treatment itself is very 2003, and not 2023. Hindi cinema film-making has come a long way in the past two decades, yet, director Sharma seems more interesting in catering to old-school mass entertainment appreciators. Thankfully, he has also toned down the original’s anti-Pakistan provocative tone. And does not add fuel to the already maligned sociopolitical atmosphere of India.

Nevertheless, personally, I believe the film qualifies for a one-time watch especially for Sunny Deol‘s return as the crazy super-powered truck driver Tara Singh. Watching him snarl and once again single-handedly wrestle dozens of enemy combatant soldiers makes for a total case of deja vu.

Beginning with a prologue recapping the events of the past film, the story then moves forward a few years, set amidst the backdrop of the impending India-Pakistan War of 1971, and once again follows Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) who is still a truck driver, and is living happily with his wife, Sakeena (Ameesha Patel), and now adult son, Charanjeet “Jeete” Singh (Utkarsh Sharma).

As the fear of war looms large, Lieutenant Colonel Devendra Rawat from Punjab (Gaurav Chopra) requests Tara’s help to deploy his trucks and send immediate ammunition at the border to help Indian soldiers. However, while battling the enemy combatants, Tara ends up disappearing along with six Indian soldiers, who are later revealed to be held captive by the notorious Pakistan Major General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa).

As his family was killed by Hindus in Hindu-Muslim riots before the partition, Hamid Iqbal is deeply buried in his hatred against India, and has waiting to seek out his vendetta against Tara Singh, who had slaughtered 40 of his officers while crossing the border with Sakeena years ago. And with the Indian army refusing to make any moves that may lead to provocation, Jeete takes it upon himself to find his father and illegally enters Pakistan, hoping to unite with him and bring him back, all the while falling in love with Muskaan (Simrat Kaur), while employed undercover.

The narrative from here on becomes an elaborate ruse to bring Tara Singh into direct confrontation with the risible general, so he can toss a few people around, hammer holes into their skulls, and single-handedly upstage a nation. But at 170 minutes the film is a tad long and could have been easily shortened.

As I had mentioned above, the sequel is exactly in the same mold as the original, with the high-on-patriotism Tara Singh going on a rampage in Pakistan again. It is just louder, and unruly to the point that it abandons the folksy charms of the original, in pursuit of something far more immodest and tellingly blunt.

Tara even reprises the hand pump and zindabad scenes but there is very little that is original and impactful in the sequel. We know Sunny Deol’s fight sequences have their own intrinsic logic but the climactic scene doesn’t pass even that test. It is just simply lazy writing. While the first half loses no opportunity to play up the us-versus-them binary, with the guys across the border generally coming across as fiends without human feelings.

Despite being a sequel to a chest-thumping, overly nationalistic film, the second half surprisingly indulges in a balancing act with the film developing the sense to throw in a stray Pakistani benefactor here and there as the father and son pair try to get out of Pakistan in one piece.

To add that it even talks about how Indian Hindus, Indian Muslims, Pakistani Muslims, and Pakistani Hindus don’t want to have any kind of enmity and that the hatred between these two nations is being spread by politicians and bigoted people in government positions.

Without a doubt, it is Sunny Deol’s roar that keeps this film somewhat alive in some scenes. Even after two decades, Sunny Deol proves he still has the chops to pull Tara Singh off with the same energy, style and conviction. He even brings back the innocence of his character and his scenes light up the screen. Ameesha Patel still looks breathtakingly gorgeous, however, her part doesn’t offer her much to do. As I had suspected, the film is actually more of a (re) launch pad for the director’s son Utkarsh Sharma, following the failure of his solo lead debut, Genius (2018).

Here, with a larger screen time comparatively, Utkarsh is decent enough and shows enough conviction. Naturally, being a product of the current acting generation he struggles in the incredibly loud scenes. Simrat Kaur looks gorgeous throughout the film and her performance is fine too. Manish Wadhva is devious enough considering the tone of the film, however, one will surely miss the larger-than-life performance of Amrish Puri who matched Sunny Deol in the snarling contest. On the whole, ‘Gadar 2’ is an outdated and middling sequel which wastes a superb Sunny Deol.