For years, rumours have circulated that actor Govinda was the original choice to play Tara Singh in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha before the role eventually went to Sunny Deol. Director Anil Sharma has now put those speculations to rest, saying the film was always conceived with Sunny Deol in mind.Speaking to Shubhankar Mishra, Sharma dismissed the long-standing claim, calling it a misunderstanding.“There are a lot of misconceptions around this. It is absolutely false. Govinda ji is one of my favourite actors, and I had already worked with him in Maharaja. I think he may have said somewhere that Gadar was offered to him, which led to this misunderstanding. I want to clarify this today,” Sharma said.
‘From day one, I only had Sunny Deol in mind’
Explaining his casting process, Sharma revealed that there were only two actors he could imagine for Tara Singh.“I never thought of any actor other than Sunny Deol for Gadar. From the day I conceived the story, I felt only Sunny Deol could do it. In my mind, there were only two names—either a young Dharmendra or Sunny Deol. Since I couldn’t get a young Dharmendra, Sunny Deol became the obvious and only choice,” he said.The filmmaker added that Sunny’s personality perfectly matched the demands of the character.“Sunny Deol has a great sense of humour, though people don’t see it publicly. I knew he would carry the humour beautifully, and the powerful portions were anyway his strength. For me, there was never any other actor.”
How the Govinda misunderstanding began
Sharma also explained how Govinda may have assumed he was being considered for the film.Recalling an interaction during the shooting of Maharaja, he said, “Govinda ji asked me what I was working on next. I narrated the basic idea of Gadar and also told him that I was making it with Sunny Deol. Perhaps he didn’t hear that part. When you narrate an idea to an actor, they naturally assume you’re narrating it for them.”He stressed that the film had already been locked with Sunny Deol by then.“When I narrated the idea, Sunny Deol had already signed the film. I wasn’t narrating it to cast Govinda. I was simply sharing the story because he had asked what I was working on.”
Could anyone else have played Tara Singh?
Asked whether another actor could have stepped into the role had Sunny Deol not been available, Sharma admitted it would have been extremely difficult.“At that time, nobody else could have done it. Maybe a young Dharmendra, a young Amitabh Bachchan or a young Dilip Kumar. Beyond them, I don’t think anyone could have played Tara Singh.”When asked whether Salman Khan from the Tere Naam era could have fit the role, Sharma replied, “Maybe the Salman Khan of that period, or slightly later when he became more muscular and powerful, could have attempted it. But during the time Gadar was being made, I never thought about him.”
‘Govinda was never right for this role’
The filmmaker concluded by reiterating that Govinda was never considered for Tara Singh because of the character’s demands.“I cast Govinda in Maharaja because I saw a combination of Dilip Kumar and Dharmendra in that role, and he performed wonderfully. But for Gadar, he was never the right choice. Even if Sunny Deol hadn’t been there, it would have been difficult because of Govinda’s screen image. For me, Sunny Deol was always the perfect and only choice.”
