Uniform gives us strength to play the part: Sunny Deol on 'Border 2' role

Mumbai, Dec 16 (PTI) Actor Sunny Deol on Tuesday said he is looking forward to "Border 2" as it gave him a chance to play a solider again.

The project is a follow-up to the 1997 blockbuster film “Border”, which featured Deol alongside Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff and Akshaye Khanna. The war epic was helmed by J P Dutta. The new movie is directed by Anurag Singh of Akshay Kumar-starrer “Kesari” fame.

"Whenever you wear the uniform there’s an excitement that you feel and you feel you are also a soldier. We don’t train like soldiers but we carry the same emotions inside us.

"It's just that we get the opportunity to essay the character of a soldier and 99 percent times it is the uniform that give us the strength to play the part, besides we’ve to add certain things from our end,” Deol said at the promotional event of “Border 2”.

Deol, who made his first public appearance here after father Dharmendra's death last month, teared up while mouthing a patriotic dialogue from the movie.

The makers launched the teaser of the film on the occasion of Vijay Diwas, a day that celebrates the victory of the nation’s brave hearts at the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

Deol said it would be wrong to assume that today’s youth lack patriotism.

"The country is our mother and today's youth also consider it as their mother and they will also protect the same way as their fathers and grandfathers did. We can call them Gen Z or by any other name but they are our (Indian) children only and their passion (for the country) will remain the same.

"The country is our home. And if anything (bad) happens you feel infuriated and then we don’t see in the right or left we just walk straight ahead (in the battle field),” the actor said.

Actors Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, Ahan Shetty, Mona Singh, Sonam Bajwa, Medha Rana and Anya Singh round out the cast of “Border 2”.

Producer Bhushan Kumar said the cast and crew of “Border 2” has worked hard to retain the essence of its predecessor while infusing it with some newness.

"It all came from JP Dutta sahab and Nidhi (Dutta’s daughter) came up with the idea that she wanted to make it (part two). There are so many emotions attached with this film. ‘Border’ is impossible without Sunny sir for his hard work and time. This film is very emotional for us,” the producer said, lauding actors like Dosanjh, Dhawan and Shetty.

"I keep telling Varun’s father that he has done a great work in the film. Anurag has worked very hard. We are thrilled that we’ve made such a good film,” Kumar added.

Nidhi Dutta said she making “Border 2" was a huge responsibility and she hopes the film will make the audiences proud.

It's not only the legacy of papa but it's also the legacy of the armed forces and the faith that they put in dad and in us as a family. I hope that I've made papa proud. I hope I made the country proud.

"'Border’ is an emotion which is personal to each and every Indian. Whether they are in India or abroad. Bhushan ji has been our rock and this film is impossible to be made without somebody like him,” the producer said, heaping praise on the new director of the film.

“For me, Anurag has been just the best captain of the ship. He has taken on this mantle and he's made it possible. It's been a dream team to work with,” Nidhi added.

Kumar revealed that the makers are planning to launch the recreated version of the iconic song, ‘Sandese Aate Hai’ on January 2, next year.

"We’ve kept this song close to the original but have added other singers also. We are planning to launch it with the armed forces on January 2. We’ve kept the feel of the original song intact,” he said.

“Border 2”, produced by T-Series & J P Dutta’s J P Films, will release theatrically on January 23, 2026. PTI KKP SSG BK BK