- Sunny Deol and Shabana Azmi starred together in Batwara 1947
- In 2001, Shabana Azmi criticised Sunny Deol's film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha for its portrayal
- She said the film confused nationalism with religion
Sunny Deol and Shabana Azmi recently shared screen space in Batwara 1947. The film released in theatres on August 14.
The two actors may now have worked together, but they had a different equation back in 2001. At the time, Shabana Azmi had criticised Sunny Deol's Gadar: Ek Prem Katha.
As quoted by the BBC, Shabana said the film "confuses the issue of nationalism, religion and identities without dealing with the complexities of the pain the Partition created in its wake".
She also described the film as "provocative which positions Muslims as the Other".
Sunny Deol later responded to her comments in an interview with Filmfare. He said he was disappointed by Shabana's remarks and defended the film.
"Shabana Azmi's comments really disappointed me. She's supposed to be educated and well-read and then she goes ahead and makes inflammatory statements against the film. Those who made a noise about the film were only trying to be in the news. The success of Gadar proves that there wasn't anything wrong with it; its public acceptance has shut up everyone who had anything negative to say about it."
Their reunion comes more than two decades after their earlier comments about Gadar.
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