Gadar 2: Handpumps, trucks, power of nostalgia and a 2000s renaissance in Bollywood
Gadar 2 works well only when Sunny Deol is on screen and plummets in both enthusiasm and pace when he isn’t. More so, the nostalgic bits are oddly reminiscent of a post-Kargil India when nationalist sentiments were high.
A jingoistic film that is neither well-acted nor well-written. A film that is borderline propaganda, a bait for chest-thumping nationalists. Gadar 2: The Katha Continues — starring Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma — has set the cash registers ringing at the box-office. Raking in the big moolah, Gadar 2 has clocked in Rs 132 crore in its opening weekend, leaving trade analysts and cinephiles rightfully perplexed. The box-office this year, much like the climate in North India, is behaving rather erratically. From what it seems, the North Indian belt might just be responsible for the incredible box-office run of Gadar 2.
Gadar 2 and memories of post-Kargil India
The much-awaited sequel has Sunny Deol play a cutesy, grizzly-bear Punjabi man who walks the thin line between speaking and yelling. Seventeen years later, he is living in Punjab’s Gurdaspur (ironically, the same constituency which Deol represents in Lok Sabha) with Sakina (Patel) and his son Jeete (Sharma). Structurally, Gadar 2 is two films for the price of one — one of them is a launch vehicle for Sharma, who plays Deol’s son in the film. Even more jarring than Ameesha Patel’s blue lenses is Sharma’s impression of Rajesh Khanna in the film and his screen presence through pivotal scenes.
The second part, which works wonders, is a rendezvous with Tara-Sakku — 17 years later, we see what star-crossed lovers are up to. There is a rendition of Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava and Main Nikla Gaddi Leke which isn’t a Tanishk Bagchi-remixed version but reprised in Udit Narayan’s voice. It is, therefore, no surprise that Gadar 2 works well only when Sunny Deol is on screen and plummets in both enthusiasm and pace when he isn’t. More so, the nostalgic bits are oddly reminiscent of early 2000s, post-Kargil India when nationalist sentiments were high.
Gadar 2: Stoking communal sentiments
When Gadar 2 isn’t acting like a launch vehicle or evoking nostalgia, it is a propaganda film which demonizes Pakistanis. To director Anil Sharma’s credit, like the prequel, Gadar 2 does have some moments where it bats for communal harmony and on certain occasions, even advocates for cross-border humanity. From the social media reactions, however, it seems that the film is fuelling hate, inadvertently perhaps, by stoking communal sentiments. This, barely after two weeks of communal violence in Haryana. The success, which comes post-The Kashmir Files, is, therefore, more worrisome than surprising.
2000s renaissance in Bollywood
What is the common link between Pathaan, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani and Gadar 2? Besides being box-office hits, the three films are riding high on nostalgia factor. While Rocky Aur Rani… capitalised on the 2000s rom-com nostalgia wave, Pathaan worked wonders because of Shah Rukh Khan’s return to the big screen after a long wait. Meanwhile, Gadar 2 relies on Tara Singh’s iconic hand pump removing sequence and callbacks to the iconic Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001).
Another release from last week, OMG 2, starring Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi, is also bringing in big numbers at the box-office. Much like Gadar 2 which released on the same Friday, OMG 2 is a sequel to the successful 2012 satirical comedy drama, OMG – Oh My God!. OMG 2 uses the same formula of a courtroom trial we saw in OMG, to explore the many pitfalls of lack of sex education in India. Ironically, the film has an ‘A’ certificate, so it wouldn't reach teens who could benefit the most from the discourse. Still, OMG 2 has received both box-office and critical acclaim.
Bollywood, it seems, is going through a 2000s renaissance. The success of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022) and Drishyam 2 (2022) corroborates that the audience is fatigued having watched biopics and is now seeking old school Bollywood mainstream entertainers — this as Ayushmann Khurrana’s Dream Girl 2, yet another sequel, is releasing later this month.
Riding the nostalgia wave in 2023
According to a running joke on Twitter, Jai Santoshi Maa (1975) is the only Bollywood film that hasn’t been remade or given a sequel so far. Are filmmakers becoming risk-averse and investing more on sequels given the uncertain economy in the post-recession world? Or are they simply playing it safe by going for tried and tested formulas than entering uncharted waters? Even if they are doing the latter, can we really blame them? After all, all of us need some Chicken Soup for Old Bollywood Soul, don’t we? This is not to say that 2023 didn’t have releases with original screenplays but as of this month, out of top 5 highest grossers of the year, three rely heavily on the power of nostalgia to pull the crowds to theatres.
They say nostalgia is a double-edged sword — “the best and the worst feeling in the world”. It takes you back to a relatively happier time in your life but also serves as a reminder of the existing unhappiness. While the 2000s renaissance is working well for Bollywood so far, it is also a reminder that lately, the box-office hasn’t seen a bona fide, standalone hit. Will the nostalgia wave lead to the emergence of fresh narratives from Bollywood? Only time will tell.
