New Delhi: According to director Anil Sharma, speculations that 'Gadar 2' will cost close to Rs 100 crore are greatly overstated. The backing he received from the Indian Army and the Uttar Pradesh government, he claimed, helped him control costs and that the actual amount was far lower.
The filmmaker also discussed Sunny Deol's pay in an interview with Lehren Retro, where he made a snide remark about modern tent pole productions' excessive budgets, which result in lead actors earning Rs 150 crore. Adipurush, a Telugu-Hindi mythological epic, was recently criticised for having a huge budget of Rs 600 crore that it was unable to recoup through box office success.
When asked about the movie's budget, Anil Sharma stated he'd rather have the studio address these issues, but he also refuted rumours that Gadar 2's production cost ranged from Rs 75 to Rs 100 crore. He said in Hindi, "It was a reasonable budget." When it was pointed out to him that Sunny must have charged what he typically does, the director remarked, "We really made an effort to regulate everyone's fees. Even though Sunny was the only party involved, his costs were somewhat reduced. The pay that actors and directors want these days cause budgets to soar to Rs 600 crore, and occasionally actors demand fees of Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 crore.
We chose to invest money on the production, he continued. The Army gave us tanks, places, and personnel as part of their tremendous support. The Army has my sincere gratitude. We filmed in the UP, and the local ministry provided us with a lot of support. We once blocked major thoroughfares and destroyed actual bridges. Imagine. Today, a lot of state governments provide funding and subsidies to the film industry. But I would ask the Maharashtra government to do more as well.
Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma are also featured in Gadar 2. The movie is the follow-up to the hugely successful 2001 epic, which ultimately brought in more money at the box office than the Oscar-nominated Lagaan that it was competing with. The Akshay Kumar-starring film OMG-2 will go up against Gadar 2.