Ameesha Patel disclosed that Sanjay Leela Bhansali cautioned her about the inevitable comparison of her subsequent films to the immense success of Gadar, a prediction that eventually materialized.
Ameesha Patel is basking in the success of Gadar 2. However, she revealed in a new interview with Bollywood Hungama that she was asked to retire right after the first part, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, in 2001. And the advice was by none other than the maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Ameesha recounts meeting Bhansali
“Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, after watching Gadar, wrote a really beautiful letter, complimentary letter to me. And when I had a meeting with him, he said, ‘Ameesha, you should retire now.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because you’ve already achieved in two films what most people don’t achieve in their entire career. Once in a lifetime, a Mughal-e-Azam, a Mother India, a Pakeezah, a Sholay gets made. You had it in your second film. So what’s next?’ I didn’t
understand it at that time because I was a kid, so new to the film world,” Ameesha said in the interview.
Bhansali’s words came true
She added that what Sanjay said turned out to be true throughout her career as people could digest the success of Gadar because it surpassed that of her dream debut film, Rakesh Roshan’s 2000 romantic film Kaho Na… Pyaar Hai. Interestingly, no other film of hers could surpass the success of Gadar, right till Gadar 2 came along this year. “Gadar set the bar so high that anything in my films that were superhits after that, whether it was Humraaz (2002), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) or Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), it was a straight comparison to Gadar,” Ameesha said in the same interview.
More about Gadar 2
Gadar 2 is the sequel of Anil Sharma’s blockbuster 2001 action romance Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. It starred Sunny Deol and Ameesha in the iconic characters of Indian truck driver Tara Singh and Pakistani woman Sakina in a cross-border tale set during the Partition. The sequel, also directed by Anil, sees Sunny and Ameesha reprise their roles after 22 years. The film also stars Anil’s son Utkarsh Sharma as Jeete, Tara and Sakina’s grown-up son.
Disclaimer: Except the headline and synopsis, this story has been taken from the HT News Service.