'Border 2' producer Nidhi Dutta believes the film will reignite patriotism in all of today's youth

New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) Producer Nidhi Dutta says the sentiment of patriotism is timeless and eternal and believes that the upcoming war film “Border 2” will reignite this flame in today’s youth, inspiring them to serve the nation and become the army of tomorrow.

Talking about how patriotism is a strong theme in Border and how Border 2 reflects the current era’s sentiment and narrative of valor, Nidhi in an exclusive chat with IANS said: “Patriotism is like love..it’s eternal and it’s timeless! It’s something we will always have in our veins no matter what generation we come from… live for our country cannot change…”

“And this film will once again reignite the flame of patriotism in all of today’s youth and hopefully inspire them to be tomorrow's army,” she added.

While ‘Border’ was based on the events of Battle of Longewala, ‘Border 2’ is presumably based on the Kargil War which occurred in 1999. The conflict between the two countries was mostly limited.

The film, which is helmed by Anurag Singh, is the sequel to the 1997 film “Border”, an epic war film, based on the events of Battle of Longewala (1971). Directed by J. P. Dutta, the film is set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

It stars Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Akshaye Khanna, Sudesh Berry, Puneet Issar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Tabu, Raakhee, Pooja Bhatt and Sharbani Mukherjee.

Asked what inspired her to revive the legacy of Border with a follow up after over two decades, Nidhi said: “When I came across stories of valor from the same 1971 war I knew it was time for Border 2… the same war just different battles… and stories that had to be told!”

Nidhi shared that Border 2 aims to evoke the same emotions as the original by depicting new battles fought on different fronts against the same enemy.

“It’s a film that takes you back to the 1971 war… to tell u stories of more soldiers and brave hearts that have fought for our country that we might not have known about… It was time to tell their story too… So you will be living the same emotions and the same era… fighting the same enemy but on different fronts!”

“Border 2” has an interesting star cast, which includes names such Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty and Diljit Dosanjh.

What went into selecting the actors for such emotionally intense roles, Nidhi shared an anecdote her filmmaker father JP Dutta told her.

“My father always says when it comes to choosing the actors for a war film based on Real Life soldiers… we don’t choose them or cast them… the soldiers siting up in heaven have chosen who should play their part… and we are automatically guided to them…”

She feels like all their actors in this film also were chosen by the “martyrs to play their part. And they have done it so beautifully!”

--IANS

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