20 Years of Gadar EXCLUSIVE: “There are 3 historic films in the history of cinema – Mughal-E-Azam, Sholay and Gadar – Ek Prem Katha. In teeno filmon ko award hi nahi mile” – Anil Sharma

By Fenil Seta -

June 16, 2021 - 4:00 PM IST

Yesterday, Gadar – Ek Prem Katha celebrated its 20^th anniversary with much fanfare. Starring Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel and Amrish Puri, this action-packed entertainer created frenzy among the moviegoers in the country. It clashed with Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan, which was also a huge hit and had its share of fans. But Gadar – Ek Prem Katha was a pan-India blockbuster and broke records like never before. Ultimately, it ended up crossing the historic Rs. 72.47 crore lifetime collections of Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) as Gadar – Ek Prem Katha collected Rs. 76.88 crore.

20 Years of Gadar EXCLUSIVE: “There are 3 historic films in the history of cinema – Mughal-E-Azam, Sholay and Gadar – Ek Prem Katha. In teeno filmon ko award hi nahi mile” – Anil Sharma

Surprisingly, Gadar – Ek Prem Katha didn’t emerge victorious at the major award shows. At the 47^th Filmfare Awards, the film got as many as 9 nominations. But Gadar – Ek Prem Katha won only in Best Action (Tinnu Verma) and in the Filmfare Special Performance Award (Ameesha Patel) categories. In the same awards edition, Lagaan walked away with 8 awards while Dil Chahta Hai got 6 trophies in its kitty. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham won 5 awards while even a film like Aks managed to win in 4 categories.

When Bollywood Hungama spoke exclusively to Anil Sharma, he opened up on this issue, “There are 3 historic films in the history of cinema – Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Sholay (1975) and Gadar – Ek Prem Katha. In teeno filmon ko award hi nahi mile. Only Mughal-E-Azam got Best Film but didn’t receive any other popular award. Sholay meanwhile won only in the Best Editing category. It puts a question mark on the credibility of the awards. But anyway, Gadar – Ek Prem Katha ko toh public ne utha liya tha. The appreciation from the public mattered the most.”

Gadar – Ek Prem Katha even got negative reviews from a section of critics. We had reported yesterday that Anil Sharma revealed that the headline of a review on his film was ‘Gutter: Ek Prem Katha’! However, Anil Sharma also added, “Some critics did like the film. Bharat mein saare critics kharaab nahi hai! Kuch critics ki sensibility acchi thi, toh unhone film ke baare mein accha likha. Kuch critics ki sensibility wahiyat hoti hai, toh unhone wahiyat cheezein likhi film ke baare mein!”

Also Read: 20 Years Of Lagaan EXCLUSIVE - Aamir Khan on clashing with Sunny Deol – “What I was not prepared for was the monster of the film that Gadar was”