Mumbai, Jan 13: Actor Suniel Shetty on Monday called J P Dutta’s 1997 war drama Border one of the most defining experiences of his career and said he would have returned for the upcoming sequel if his character had survived in the original film.
Shetty was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of “Jaate Hue Lamhon”, a recreated version of the song from Border’s original soundtrack. The track features in Border 2, which is scheduled to release in theatres on January 23.
Inspired by real events from the 1971 India–Pakistan war, Border featured Shetty as Captain Bhairon Singh, a battle-hardened Indian Army officer who is martyred towards the end of the film. Recalling the role, the actor said portraying a character rooted in real life was challenging and initially made him anxious about whether he could do justice to it.
Shetty added that while he felt proud filming the death sequence, he later realised it also meant he could not be part of the sequel, describing an “itch” to wear the uniform again on screen.
Directed by Anurag Singh, Border 2 brings back Sunny Deol and introduces new cast members including Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Shetty’s son Ahan Shetty. Suniel said he was grateful to Dutta for giving Ahan a significant opportunity after his debut in Tadap (2021), and expressed hope that his son has delivered in the role.
Ahan, calling the film “incredibly special”, thanked his co-stars for their support during the shoot.
Produced by Bhushan Kumar, J P Dutta and Nidhi Dutta, the film is presented by Gulshan Kumar and T-Series in association with J P Dutta’s J P Films. The cast also includes Mona Singh, Sonam Bajwa, Anya Singh and Medha Rana.
By – Juhi