‘It is more Sunny Deol uncle’s film than ours’: Border 2 writer-producer Nidhi Dutta

Sunny Deol

Sitting in the cantonment area of Babina, Jhansi, surrounded by her team of actors and over 300 army men, Border 2 writer-producer Nidhi Dutta has only one thing in mind - gratitude. Over a call, she tells us, "Sometimes I feel, ‘Is it really happening?'"

Suniel Shetty, Sunny Deol and Puneet Issar in Border (1997)

Border 2, a spiritual sequel to JP Dutta's blockbuster Border (1997), is being helmed by Anurag Singh and offers a retelling of the 1999 Kargil war. With the war drama, Nidhi hopes to not only create a worthy successor to her filmmaker-father's creation, but also pay tribute to the Indian Armed Forces. What makes her confident is that she has a well-researched story and an all-star cast in Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan and Diljit Dosanjh. The writer-producer is particularly grateful that Deol, who led Border, agreed to headline her film. "We couldn't have made this film without Sunny uncle. There is no Border without him. I can say this on behalf of my father that it is Sunny uncle's film more than ours." She adds that Deol has kept the franchise close to his heart all these years. "If dad was directing this film, he'd [proudly] feel, ‘This is my franchise.' I see that feeling in Sunny uncle," she says.

JP Dutta and Nidhi Dutta

Border 2 is being designed as a 2026 Republic Day offering. Over the last few years, many patriotic films have been churned out, most of them half-baked. Nidhi, however, disagrees that the audience is fatigued with the genre. "The audience won't accept anything that is dishonest. If they see that a film is made for the right reason, they'll love it, no matter how many have come before that in the genre."

In that regard, she asserts that the team's heart is in the right place. What adds to their advantage is that the Duttas have a background in the Armed Forces. "When your background is the Armed Forces and you tell the story, it strikes a chord. That was the case with my father, whose younger brother was in the Air Force. In his films, the scenes where the soldier's family gets to know about his demise are impactful. That's because my father went through that in his life. When my uncle passed away in the MIG-21 crash, two Air Force officers had come to our house to inform us. So, when he sat down to make a war film, it came from a personal space."