Producer Nidhi Dutta, daughter of JP Dutta, who is gearing up for the release of Border 2, has shared why actress Tabu was not cast in the film's second instalment.
Nidhi spoke to IANS during the film's promotions. She explained that since Border 2 focuses on a different battle from the 1971 India-Pakistan war, and not the Battle of Longewala, only a few actors from the first part appear in the sequel.
She told IANS, "Sunny Deol is not playing Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri in the film. You must have understood in all the assets from the film that Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri, who he played in the first film, is a different character. So obviously, the wife will also be different."
She also revealed that the film was entrusted to them as a moral responsibility by the late Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat.
She said, "This is a responsibility, not an idea. Our late Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat had called me and my father to Delhi a few years ago to meet. And during that time, he had given us stories of 22 such heroes, of which 3 and 4 are in this film. And he had said that these are some stories of our martyrs, of our soldiers, which have to be conveyed to the people. And he had entrusted that responsibility to me and my father."
"After that, of course, unfortunately, we lost him in a helicopter crash. And so I would say that this film is not just a dream of mine and my father. I think this is also the dream of late General Bipin Rawat ji. And a year and a half after his passing, when I was thinking about what we should do in the next JP films, what should we do in my father's company, at that time, out of those 22 stories, there were a few stories that are now behind me, which I added together and wrote a script for 4 of them. And that's it. Border 2 is in front of you," she concluded.
Border 2 is an upcoming war drama and spiritual sequel to the 1997 blockbuster Border, directed by Anurag Singh. Sunny Deol reprises his role as the central soldier, joined by Varun Dhawan as an Army fighter, Diljit Dosanjh as an Air Force pilot, and Ahan Shetty as a Navy officer, with a supporting cast including Suniel Shetty, Sonam Bajwa, and Medha Rana.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)