Were Govinda-Kajol chosen to play Tara Singh-Sakina in Gadar? Here's what director has to say

Did you know that in the past, the iconic roles of Tara Singh and Sakina in the Bollywood blockbuster, 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha', were originally written with Govinda and Kajol in mind? It might be hard to picture anyone other than Sunny Deol and Amisha Patel in these roles, but it's true.

'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha' holds a special place in the history of Indian cinema. Directed by Anil Sharma, the movie was set amid the India-Pakistan partition in 1947, depicting an emotive narrative of love surviving against all odds. It established new benchmarks in terms of box office collections and popularized Sunny Deol and Amisha Patel like never before.

However, some reports suggest that Govinda and Kajol were approached for the roles of Tara Singh and Sakina respectively. However, Director Anil Sharma said in a throwback interview with Bollywood Hungama that Govinda was not confirmed for the role of Tara Singh in 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'. However, the filmmaker said he narrated the story of Gadar to Govinda.

"Govinda was never signed for Gadar Ek Prem Katha," Anil explained. In Maharaja (1998), I was directing him. This is when I told Govinda about Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. Toh nahi tha, maine unko cast kiya tha. Balki ki kahani sunn ke darr gaye the (Not that I cast him in the film. In reality, he became terrified after hearing the account of Gadar Ek Prem Katha)."

Anil added, "He was wondering how someone could pull off a film of this kind and scale. This was a time when there was no way of recreating Pakistan; nobody had attempted it for a major part of the film. So Sunny Deol was always the first choice."

While there weren't many casting modifications for Sunny Deol's role in the film, Anil Sharma apparently found his Sakina after who’s who of the industry turned him down. In reality, the names Kajol, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit have frequently appeared in similar settings.

Even though Anil Sharma didn’t reveal any such names, he mentioned that Sakina’s roles were offered to many actresses, after which, Ameesha Patel gave her consent to sign along the dotted lines.

Speaking to Bollywood Bubble, Anil shared, “I don’t want to name anyone, it’s not right. The media is free to name anyone. 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 didn’t even listen to the story."

“Some actresses who heard our story felt that it was a period film, and it would involve getting dirty; those days films would be shot internationally. They used to tell us to make ‘youth-oriented’ films. They’d make some excuse or the other," he further added.

Sunny Deol-Ameesha Patel’s latest blockbuster, Gadar 2, is set to earn twice as Gadar: Ek Prem Katha which had earned over Rs 110 crore worldwide.

Gadar 2 had earned Rs 40.10 crore on Friday, Rs 43.08 on Saturday, Rs 51.70 crore on Sunday, and Rs 38.70 crore on Monday, taking the total in four days to Rs 173.58 crore. 

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