‘Border 2 Is My Daughter’s Baby’

Movie Moghul J P Dutta, whose Border created history in 1997, now looks on as a proud father as Part 2 prepares for release – “The Border sequel is entirely my daughter Nidhi’s baby. She has been looking after her two babies (Nidhi became a mother last year) and has managed beautifully. I am very proud of her,” he says.

With Border considered a benchmark for war movies in India, will Border 2 live up to audience expectations?

Says JP, “The audience profile has changed. Border 2 is made according to the tastes of today’s audiences. Border was born out of my anguished comprehension of a complicated and tangled relationship between India and Pakistan. We’re brothers and yet, we’re enemies. Border just connected with audiences.”

Border also saw the end of JP’s long friendship with Sunny Deol, who played a Sadar soldier in the film. What went wrong?

Apparently, Sunny’s production company Vijayta Films (now defunct) wanted a financial statement on the foreign exchange earnings from the equipment used for JP’s production company. Since JP himself owned an export company, he wanted to use the FERA benefits for that firm, and declined to give the required letter to the Deols.

Sunny hadn’t worked with JP since Border, but now, 29 years later, the hostility appears to have been washed away – he is working with director Anurag Singh in Border 2, though JP is not directly involved with the making of the sequel.