Anil Sharma Reveals Telling Sunny Deol He Deserves Rs 50 Crore Per Project: 'People Measure Stardom…'

Director Anil Sharma’s ‘Gadar 2’, starring the legendary duo of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, became a massive blockbuster in 2023, despite facing heavy criticism from reviewers. The film struck a chord with the audience, raking in a lifetime collection of Rs 525.7 crore. As the film recently marked its one-year anniversary, Anil Sharma reminisced about predicting Sunny Deol’s rise in demand, telling the actor that the film would catapult him to a point where he could command Rs 50 crore per project.

In a conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Sharma reflected on Sunny Deol’s remarkable comeback, saying, “When I first discussed ‘Gadar 2’ with Sunny sir, I told him, ‘You need to do this film. You deserve to charge Rs 50 crore per project, and this film will help you achieve that.’ The demand for the film was so intense that shows were scheduled as early as 3 am.”

He continued, “I woke up at 7:30 am, completely unaware, until my wife showed me videos of the frenzy in the cinemas. She was in tears—it was a deeply emotional moment for us. Sunny sir truly deserved it because he has always been a superstar. However, stardom is often judged by box office numbers, and I don’t blame people for that. Even within the industry, no one imagined in their wildest dreams that ‘Gadar 2’ would become such a monumental hit—except me.”

Sunny Deol is currently busy working on his next film titled Lahore 1947. The film is directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. It also stars Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, and Shabana Azmi. The project is backed by Aamir Khan’s production company.

Few months back, Preity Zinta shared a video announcing Lahore 1947’s wrap up. Sharing a video of the beautiful memories created on the sets of the film, the actress said, “It’s a wrap on Lahore 1947 & I couldn’t be more grateful to the entire cast and crew for such an incredible experience. I sincerely hope all of you appreciate & enjoy this film as much as we did making it. It’s definitely the toughest film I have worked on. Full marks to everyone for all their hard work & patience during the last couple of months. Thank you Raj ji, Aamir, Sunny, Shabana Ji , Santosh Sivan & AR Rehman from the bottom of my heart. Loads of love always.”