Gadar: Ek Prem Katha
is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic period action drama film directed by Anil Sharma from a story written by Shaktimaan Talwar and was set during the Partition of India in 1947. Loosely based on the life of Boota Singh, the film stars Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma in lead roles, alongside Amrish Puri, Lillete Dubey and Vivek Shauq in supporting roles.

Budgeted at approximately ,  had a global cinema release on 15 June 2001, opposite Ashutosh Gowariker's sports drama Lagaan. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed over  net in India and  worldwide with a distributor share of , and went on to emerge as the  highest-grossing Hindi film since Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994).  is the second most-watched Hindi film in India since the 1990s, recording more than 50 million footfalls in India. According to Box Office India, its adjusted gross in India is  as per 2017 ticket sales. The shy role of Deol was praised, earning him the Best Actor nomination at the ceremony of 47th Filmfare Awards, while Patel garnered the Filmfare Special Award as well as a nomination for Best Actress in the same function.

A sequel titled Gadar 2 was released on 11 August 2023 with Deol, Patel and Sharma reprising their roles.

Plot 

During the Partition of India, Muslims are attacked by radical Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan when migrating from India by train to the railway station at West Punjab in Pakistan. At the same time, some radical Muslims are killing Sikhs and Hindus migrating from Pakistan towards East Punjab in India. During the Hindu-Muslim riots that erupted soon after the partition, a truck driver named Tara Singh also plans to kill Muslims, but stops after recognizing his college friend Sakina Ali from the little Taj Mahal antique in her hands. Tara saves and protects her from the mob chasing her as she cannot get onto the train with her family members after being lost in the crowd. Tara Singh defends Sakina by applying blood (implying Sindoor) to her forehead to make her as his Sikh wife. While driving back to their house, Tara and Sakina remember their college days.

Pre-1947: Tara's real ambition is to become a singer, where Sakina's friends fool Tara to think that they have got him a spot on their college’s music show in return for a favour. Tara performs badly in front of the music teacher (portrayed by Sakina). His friend gives him tablets that help him to prove his singing skills. Later, Tara finds that Sakina is not the real music teacher, which saddens him. When performing on the music show, Sakina announces that she will not do her act and instead gives a chance for Tara to sing despite being against the seniors' will at the college. Tara impresses everybody with his talent. While returning home after completing the final year, Sakina is given a Taj Mahal antique by Tara as a farewell present.

Later, Tara's parents Jaideep Singh, Parmeet Kaur and two sisters are depressed as they did not return to Amritsar before the partition. Tara's Muslim friend meets the family and requests them to stay with him as parents love both friends equally, but Tara's parents and sisters disagree. They reluctantly decide to leave. While leaving for the station, Jaideep and Parmeet give two paper pouches to their daughters. The bewildered twins ask them about the pouches, where Jaideep tells that the sisters should not hesitate to give up their lives lest any Muslim attacks. The family reaches the station and boards the train. After some time, a large Muslim mob attacks the whole train consisting of Hindu and Sikh refugees. The people escape to save themselves, but are killed gruesomely. 

Tara's sisters hastily try to eat the poison, but two men throw it from their hands and kill them after cruel physical abuse. The train, which was full of dead bodies of Hindus and Sikhs, has just arrived at Amritsar station. The Hindus and Sikhs, waiting to pick up their relatives at the station, see that their relatives were slaughtered inside the train. Tara, too, is at the station and sees the bloodshed. Enraged, the Hindus and Sikhs form a strong squad in East Punjab and retaliate in the same manner along with Tara and massacre every Muslim in Amritsar station trying to flee to Pakistan.

1947-1954: Tara and Sakina reach their house, where he explains that applying sindoor doesn't mean anything as he did this only to save her life. After learning from the local railway station about her parents' demise, Sakina starts living in Tara's house. After overhearing Tara's aunt's comments about how society is reacting towards Tara's family that he is keeping a Muslim, she insists Tara to take her to a Muslim refugee camp as she doesn't want to overburden him anymore. Before Tara and Sakina head out towards Lahore, Sakina insists that she had learnt about Tara's love for her by reading his secret diary, but doesn't say anything. After reaching the border and realizing her love for him, Sakina proposes to Tara, where they get married and become parents of a baby boy named Charanjeet "Jeete" Singh.

Their life seems like a bed of roses until Sakina sees an old newspaper during Holi festival which has a photograph of her father Ashraf Ali and realizes that her parents are alive. Ashraf Ali is actually the present mayor of Lahore. Sakina calls Ashraf Ali from the Pakistani Embassy in Delhi, where he arranges to fly her to Lahore. However, Tara and their son Jeete, who is supposed to accompany her to Lahore, are told at the last minute that their visa formalities have not been completed, which compels them to stay in India. Sakina leaves with a heavy heart and meets her whole clan back in Lahore. After some time, Sakina tells that she wants to return to India, but her mother tells her that she was about to be disowned as people were babbling about her staying with an Indian Jatt.

Ashraf Ali also relates all of their hardships during the journey from India to Pakistan. Sakina is heartbroken, but she starts protesting when her parents' friends start using her post-marriage life as a publicity stunt and depict her in-laws badly to extract more sympathy and votes from the Pakistani population. Later, Sakina is introduced to an influential handsome person and is told that she would be marrying him, but Sakina refuses and even asks the Qazi Saheb to leave her alone, saying second marriage during the husband's lifetime is a sin. Sakina's parents and Mamaji are irate about this, where they forcibly lock her up in a room inside the palace. After learning they will not receive a visa, Tara, along with his friend and Jeete, enter Pakistan illegally at the border.

Tara reaches Lahore with his son and friend Darmiyaan Singh. Tara tries to take shelter in his old friend's house, but leaves the place with Jeete and Darmiyaan. They find out that Sakina is getting married and reach her before the marriage takes place. A fight is about to break out when the priest stops them as this can end up harming Ashraf Ali's political career. Ashraf Ali agrees to their marriage under two conditions: They should live in Pakistan and Tara should convert to Islam. These conditions are accepted by Tara in public the next day, which was against Ashraf Ali's plans. Ashraf Ali makes Tara insult his country to prove that he is a true Pakistani, but Tara gets enraged and kills a mob dispatched by Ashraf. 

Tara, Sakina, Jeete and a friend manage to escape from the city and hide in a poor couple's cottage near the border forest. The man's wife is a greedy woman who wants all of Sakina's ornaments for herself, she refuses to listen to her husband and throws Sakina out of the house when she does not get more jewellery. After Sakina leaves with Tara, Jeet and Darmiyaan, Ashraf Ali reaches the cottage and relocates his daughter. After a long period of turmoil, they catch a cotton mill train bound for India. Ashraf Ali finds out and takes some men to stop them. In the ensuing fight, Sakina gets shot by her own father and lapses into a coma. Sakina gains consciousness after having a nightmare, where she reunites with Tara and Jeete. Ashraf Ali finally accepts Tara as his son-in-law. Tara, Sakina, Jeet and Darmiyaan return back to India.

Cast 

 Sunny Deol as Tara Singh
 Ameesha Patel as Sakeena "Sakku" Ali Singh, Tara Singh's wife
 Amrish Puri as Mayor Ashraf Ali, Sakeena's father and Tara Singh's father-in-law
 Lillete Dubey as Shabana Ali, Sakeena's mother and Tara Singh's mother-in-law
 Vivek Shauq as Darmiyaan Singh, Tara Singh's best friend
 Utkarsh Sharma as Charanjeet "Jeete" Singh, Tara Singh and Sakeena's son
 Suresh Oberoi as Taya Kulwant Singh, Tara Singh's elder uncle
 Madhu Malti as Gurjeet Singh, Tara Singh's elder aunt
 Pramod Moutho as Gurdeep Singh, Tara Singh's father
 Kanika Shivpuri as Parmeet Kaur, Tara Singh's mother
 Mushtaq Khan as Gul Khan
 Dolly Bindra as Samira Khan
 Madhumalti Kapoor as Tara Singh's Tayee
 Arjun Dwivedi as Pakistani jailor
 Ahsaan Khan as Abdul Ali
 Tony Mirchandani as Sarfaraz Ali
 Samar Jai Singh as Salim Ali
 Gyan Prakash as Wali Mohammed
 Vikrant Chaturvedi as Kalim
 Rakesh Bedi as Vaid Kimtilal
 Vishwajeet Pradhan as Daroga Suleiman
 Ishrat Ali as Qazi of Ali family
 Mithilesh Chaturvedi as Idris, Editor of Jung daily newspaper.
 B.N. Sharma as Iqbal, Officer of Pakistan Consulate in Delhi
 Pratima Kazmi as Greedy Woman
 Amita Khopkar as Bano
 Santosh Gupta as Chanta
 Abhay Bhargava as Indian Army Officer
 Shweta Shinde as Sakina Friend, girls Boarding Hostel
 Om Puri as the narrator

Production 
Kajol was offered the role of Sakeena, but she turned it down as she did not feel the movie was her type of film. A part of  was shot at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and at other several locations in Shimla. A part of it was also shot in Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School at Dalhousie. Although the film was set in 1947, it features the music of "Que sera sera" which was first published in 1956.

The film was also shot in the city of Lucknow and Rudauli in Uttar Pradesh where the city was depicted as Lahore, Pakistan and parts were shot at La Martiniere Boys School, Lucknow. Some parts were shot at Irshad Manzil Palace in Rudauli. A significant part was shot in Pathankot, Sarna and Amritsar to depict the division-torn country.

Soundtrack 

The music of  was composed by Uttam Singh. Lyrics of all the songs were written by Anand Bakshi. According to composer Uttam Singh, since the movie was based in 1947 and was releasing in 2001, it was a challenge for him to give a music which could relate to 1947 as well as cater the listeners of 2000 era. It took him almost a month and a half to compose "Udja Kale Kawan" . According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, the soundtrack sold approximately 2.5 million copies.

Release and reception 
Ruchi Sharma of Rediff wrote "Gadar - Ek Prem Katha comes close to being fantastic, even though it is overheated in bits. Not to miss, this". Taran Adarsh gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "On the whole, GADAR is worth the watch for its brilliant dramatic and confrontation sequences, splendid performances and touching moments that overpower the two flaws in the film ? the excessive length (the narrative needs to be trimmed by at least 15 minutes in the second half!) and a weak musical score".

DNAIndia called it one of the must-watch Bollywood films on the Partition of India.

The film faced protests, including incidents of arson and violence, at the time of its release particularly in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhopal by some Muslim groups who were opposed to the depiction of an interfaith marriage between a Sikh man and Muslim woman as shown in the film. The films portrayal of partition violence was also alleged to be biased against Muslims. Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh was also petitioned by one of the groups to implement a ban in the state, though it did not materialize.

The film had also run into controversy an year earlier while filming at the Bara Imambara (a place for religious congregation) in Lucknow which was protested to by Shia Muslims, and the film had to be reshot at the nearby Rumi Gate.

Arif Masood, a local politician, was the leader of one of the protesting mobs in Bhopal which seriously injured a police constable. Reacting to the violence Deol said "What is sad about the protests is that they were started by cowards, but it is innocent people who are being hurt." Actress Shabana Azmi defended the film's right of exhibition stating,  "The movie reinforces the canard that every Muslim is a Pakistani. It mixes issues of identity and nationalism, which should be handled sensitively. But it has been cleared by the Censor Board and has every right to be screened." Then Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, writing in Saamna too found 'nothing objectionable' in the film.

Box office
 collected  in its initial theatrical run and its adjusted gross is  as per 2017 ticket sales. The film was a stupendous success, and was declared an All-Time Blockbuster by Box Office India.  ranks among the top 3 Indian films in all-time highest footfalls since 1990s. In the United Kingdom,  grossed around £280,000.

Re-release
A uncut and extended version remastered in 4K resolution and Dolby Atmos sound was given a limited theatrical re-release by Zee Studios on 9 June 2023.

Awards 
Won
 Filmfare Special Performance Award - Ameesha Patel
 Filmfare Best Action Award - Tinnu Verma
 Zee Cine Special Award for Outstanding Performance - Male - Sunny Deol
 Star Screen Award for Best Actor - Sunny Deol
 Sansui Best Actor Award - Sunny Deol
 Sansui Best Actress Award - Ameesha Patel
 Annual Filmgoers Awards - Best Actress - Ameesha Patel

Nominated
 Filmfare Best Film Award - Nitin Keni
 Filmfare Best Director Award - Anil Sharma
 Filmfare Best Actor Award - Sunny Deol
 Filmfare Best Actress Award - Ameesha Patel
 Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Uttam Singh
 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award - Anand Bakshi
 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award - Udit Narayan
 Filmfare Best Villain Award - Amrish Puri
 IIFA Best Movie Award - Nitin Keni
 IIFA Best Director Award - Anil Sharma
 IIFA Best Actor Award - Sunny Deol
 IIFA Best Actress Award - Ameesha Patel
 Star Screen Best Film Award - Nitin Keni
 Star Screen Best Director Award - Anil Sharma
 Star Screen Best Actress Award - Ameesha Patel
 Zee Cine Award for Best Film - Nitin Keni
 Zee Cine Award for Best Director - Anil Sharma
 Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Male - Sunny Deol
 Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Female - Ameesha Patel
 Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role - Amrish Puri

Sequel 

A sequel titled Gadar 2 was announced on 15 October 2021 with the release of a motion poster starring Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma in the lead roles. Anil Sharma has directed the sequel with Zee Studios producing the film. The film released on 11 August 2023.

See also 
 List of highest-grossing Bollywood films
 Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh, 1999 Indian Punjabi-language film

References

Bibliography

External links 
 
 Gadar: Ek Prem Katha at Bollywood Hungama

2001 films
2000s Hindi-language films
2000s action drama films
Indian action drama films
Military of Pakistan in films
Indian historical action films
India–Pakistan relations in popular culture
Indian interfaith romance films
Films scored by Uttam Singh
Films set in the partition of India
Films set in Lahore
Films set in Punjab, India
Films set in Punjab, Pakistan
Films shot in Lucknow
Films shot in Punjab, India
Films shot in Himachal Pradesh
Films directed by Anil Sharma
2000s historical action films
Film controversies in India
Religious controversies in film
Religious controversies in India
Islam-related controversies in Asia
Art works that caused riots