Ameesha Patel recalls 'Gadar' fans mistaking Bobby Deol for Sunny on set
Synopsis
Even while filming a completely different movie with Bobby Deol, Ameesha Patel could not escape the shadow of Gadar — a crowd at the Jaipur fort set screamed at Bobby to ‘leave her’ because Tara Singh had already brought Sakeena back from Pakistan. The anecdote, shared on The Kapil Sharma Show, is the most vivid proof yet of how deeply the 2001 blockbuster is lodged in Indian popular memory, even 25 years on.
Key Takeaways
Ameesha Patel shared the incident on The Kapil Sharma Show , recalling a crowd confrontation during the filming of Humraaz in Jaipur .
Fans watching the shoot mistook Bobby Deol for his brother Sunny Deol and shouted at him to release Ameesha, referencing her role as Sakeena in Gadar .
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha recently completed 25 years since its original release.
Sunny Deol marked the milestone with a social media post, signing off as his iconic character Tara Singh .
The franchise returned with Gadar 2 in August 2023 , directed again by Anil Sharma .
Actress Ameesha Patel recently recounted a laugh-out-loud moment from the sets of Humraaz that perfectly illustrated just how deeply Gadar: Ek Prem Katha had embedded itself in the public imagination. Speaking on The Kapil Sharma Show, she described how a crowd of devoted Gadar fans refused to accept that she could be hugging anyone other than Sunny Deol — even when the man doing the hugging was his brother, Bobby Deol.
The Incident on the Jaipur Fort Set
Ameesha was filming the climax sequence of Humraaz with Bobby Deol at a fort in Jaipur when the memorable episode unfolded. In her own words: “It was the climax sequence, where Bobby had to come and hug me as we had finally defeated the villain. We were shooting in the Jaipur fort, and there was a massive crowd. They were looking at us from a height.”
The moment Bobby embraced her on camera, the crowd erupted — but not with the kind of applause the production team might have expected. Onlookers began shouting, “Leave her, she is your brother (Sunny Deol)’s girl.” They then invoked the iconic plotline of Gadar, adding: “Tara Singh got her back from Pakistan.” The anecdote drew big laughs on the show, underscoring the rare cultural grip the 2001 period drama continues to hold on Indian audiences more than two decades later.
Gadar Turns 25: Sunny Deol’s Heartfelt Tribute
The story comes in the context of Gadar recently completing 25 years since its release — a milestone that Sunny Deol marked with a heartfelt note on his social media handle, accompanied by photographs from the film. He wrote: “25 Years Ago Gadar and Tara Singh conquered your hearts...25 saal se pyaar ke rishte ki gaddi chall rahi aur aage bhi chalti hi rahegi...Thank you all for giving all of us 25 years of abundant love and making us stay in your hearts, hope we keep staying there.”
Notably, Sunny signed off the post as his iconic character, Tara Singh — a testament to how completely the role has become part of his identity in the eyes of fans.
About Gadar: Cast and Legacy
Directed by Anil Sharma and backed by Zee Telefilms, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha starred Sunny Deol as Tara Singh, Ameesha Patel as Sakeena, Amrish Puri as Ashraff Ali, Vivek Shauq as Darmiyaan Singh, and Utkarsh Sharma as Jeete. The film was a massive commercial success on release and has retained a devoted fanbase across generations.
The franchise returned with Gadar 2 in August 2023, which also performed strongly at the box office, reaffirming audience appetite for the Tara Singh universe. The Jaipur set anecdote Ameesha shared is a vivid reminder of how thoroughly the original film colonised popular memory — to the point where even a Deol sibling could not escape its shadow.
Point of View
But it points to something more significant: few Indian films in the last three decades have achieved the kind of character-audience fusion that Gadar managed with Tara Singh. When a crowd at a working film set in 2002 or 2003 interrupts a shoot to defend a fictional romance, the line between cinema and collective belief has dissolved. Gadar 2’s box-office success in 2023 confirmed this was not nostalgia alone — it is an active, living fandom. The question for Bollywood is whether any contemporary franchise is building that depth of emotional ownership, or whether the industry is increasingly producing spectacle without the kind of character mythology that makes audiences feel personally invested decades later.
NationPress
2 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Ameesha Patel reveal on The Kapil Sharma Show?
Ameesha Patel recounted a funny incident from the sets of Humraaz in Jaipur, where a crowd of Gadar fans mistook Bobby Deol for Sunny Deol and shouted at him to release her, insisting Tara Singh had already brought Sakeena back from Pakistan. The story highlighted the extraordinary cultural impact of the 2001 blockbuster.
Why did the Gadar fans confront Bobby Deol on the Humraaz set?
The fans were watching the climax shoot of Humraaz at a Jaipur fort, where Bobby Deol hugged Ameesha Patel as part of the scene. Recognising Ameesha as Sakeena from Gadar, they assumed the hug was inappropriate because, in their minds, she ‘belonged’ to Sunny Deol’s character Tara Singh.
How did Sunny Deol mark Gadar’s 25th anniversary?
Sunny Deol posted a heartfelt tribute on his social media handle with photographs from the film, thanking fans for 25 years of love. He signed off the post as Tara Singh, the character he played in the film.
Who directed Gadar and who was in the cast?
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha was directed by Anil Sharma and produced by Zee Telefilms. The cast included Sunny Deol as Tara Singh, Ameesha Patel as Sakeena, Amrish Puri as Ashraff Ali, Vivek Shauq as Darmiyaan Singh, and Utkarsh Sharma as Jeete.
When did Gadar 2 release and how did it perform?
Gadar 2 released in August 2023 and was a strong box-office performer, reaffirming the enduring popularity of the franchise among Indian audiences more than two decades after the original.
