Gadar is a classic Bollywood film known for its powerful storytelling and performances. The makers and the actors had put their heart and soul into the film. A lot of research went into the scripting, locations, costumes and props to make the film as authentic as possible. Director Anil Sharma chose to shoot the film at real locations instead of building a fake set. The crew did a recee of several cities and villages of North India before finalising the locations. Not only the locations were real, but so was the crowd. Anil Sharma had cast the local crowd to shoot some sequences of the film. But this decision had its own repercussions.
Quite often, the crowd would turn violent. One such incident happened while shooting for the song ‘Musafir Jaane Wale’. With the song in the background, the scene featured the partition of India and Pakistan. It showcased 10,000 Hindus and Sikhs coming to India from Pakistan, while many were going to Lahore from Amritsar. The scene featured the local crowd of the village where the song was being picturized. The scene demanded that as the crowd interacts while crossing the border, they hurl abuses and throw stones at each other. The film crew had brought thousands of dummy stones from Mumbai to shoot this scene. Everyone was given dummy stones to throw at each other. But after they finished throwing the fake stones, they picked up real stones and threw them at each other. Many people were injured. The crowd didn’t stop even when the director requested multiple times. Since it was a local crowd and it was very difficult to stop them.
A similar incident happened while filming a scene at Amritsar Railway station. When the crowd gathered at the station on the first day, it turned violent and began throwing stones. Eventually, the police intervened and did lathi-charge to take control of the situation.
Read More: How Gadar Was Shot At Amritsar Railway Station With Real Crowd
Directed by Anil Sharma, the film stars Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel. It was released in 2001. The cast and crew has reunited once again for its sequel.
Check Out: Sunny Deol And Ameesha Patel Start Shooting For Gadar 2, First Pics Out