Ahead of the release of the much-anticipated sequel to the 1997 film Border, titled Border 2, the songs from the new film have been trending online. The new film features rehashed versions of original songs like "Ghar Kab Aayoge" and "Aye Jate Hue Lamhon," inviting divided opinions on the internet. For obvious reasons, fans who grew up listening to the original songs didn't feel ecstatic after hearing the new versions.
Amid the ongoing chatter, Javed Akhtar revealed that he had been approached by the makers of Border 2, but he refused.
"They did ask me to write for the film, but I refused. I really feel this is a kind of intellectual and creative bankruptcy. You have an old song that did well, and you want to put it out again by adding something? Make new songs or else accept that you cannot do the same level of work," Javed Akhtar told India Today.
"Whatever is bygone, let that be. What is the need to recreate it? We had a film before us also—Haqeeqat (1964)—and its songs were not ordinary ones. Be it 'Kar chale hum fida' or 'Main yeh sochkar uske dar se utha tha,' those were such brilliant songs, but we didn't use them. We wrote new ones; we made absolutely different songs, and people liked them too. You are making a movie again, so create new songs. Why are you depending on the past? You have accepted that we can't do it. We will live on past glory," added Akhtar, expressing his sheer disappointment over the present state of the music industry.
The general perception is that makers invest in recreations to tickle the masses' nostalgia. "You create new nostalgia then," Akhtar shared his two cents on that.
Border 2 is directed by Anurag Singh. It is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, J. P. Dutta, and Nidhi Dutta under the banners of T-Series Films and J. P. Films.
Sunny Deol, who starred in the original film, has been cast in the sequel. He will share screen space with Varun Dhawan, Ahaan Shetty, and Diljit Dosanjh in the new film. The sequel will hit theatres on January 23, on the eve of Republic Day.
