Anurag Singh’s period war drama Border 2 is off to a historic start at the domestic box office. While much of the credit goes to the return of Sunny Deol, who was also a part of JP Dutta’s 1997 blockbuster Border, other cast members also get their due. These include Varun Dhawan and Diljit Dosanjh, who plays the hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon in the sequel.
Creators defend Diljit Dosanjh
But there was a time last year when there were rumors that Diljit would be removed from Border 2. Excessive trolling of the actor when the film was in theaters was believed to be the reason why producer Bhushan Kumar of T-Series was allegedly considering dropping him from the film. However, he maintained that Diljit is a part of Border 2, and has even defended him now after the film’s release.
“We were lucky to have all the actors. We had started the film and then this pressure came. If, because of trolls, a company like us starts replacing people, then we shouldn’t make films,” Bhushan told Hindustan Times. Even Anurag Singh defended Diljit as Bhushan revealed that he was the one who insisted on casting Diljit in the role of Nirmal as the two had previously worked together in the hit Punjabi period drama Punjab 1984 (2014).
“You see him on screen or you see his interviews. But you don’t know him personally or what his beliefs are. So you assume something and say things. But he is not what you think he is,” Singh argued. Last week, an overwhelmed Diljit revealed that I didn’t even have money to buy a ticket to see Border when it premiered in 1997. He never imagined that one day he would be part of its celebrated sequel.
Diljit Dosanjh’s Sardaar Ji 3 controversy
Rumors of Diljit’s exit from Border 2 followed controversy when Diljit co-starred with Pakistani actor Hania Aamir in Amar Hundal’s Punjabi comedy Sardaar Ji 3 in June. Since that was just a couple of months after the Pahalgam terror attacks in April, it drew the ire of trolls for an Indian actor working with a Pakistani, even at a time when cross-border tension was at an all-time high.
The trolls worked overtime to ensure that Diljit was removed from the two franchise films he signed at the time: Border 2 and Anees Bazmee’s No Entry Mein Entry, a sequel to his hit 2005 comedy No Entry. While Diljit opted out of the latter due to scheduling conflicts, he continued filming and eventually wrapped up his part in Border 2.
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Border 2 has already crossed the Rs 200 crore mark at the domestic box office in just five days of its release. Co-produced by T-Series and JP and Nidhi Dutta’s JP Films, it also stars Ahan Shetty, Mona Singh, Anya Singh, Medha Rana and Sonam Bajwa, among others. The creators have also announced that a third sequel, Border 3, is also in the works.