Varun Dhawan has joined Sunny Deol in the cast of Bollywood war epic “Border 2,” Variety has confirmed.
The film will be directed by Anurag Singh who previously helmed Akshay Kumar-starring “Kesari” (2019), based on the Battle of Saragarhi in which an army of 21 Sikhs fought against 10,000 Afghans in 1897.
“Border 2” is a sequel to J.P. Dutta’s 1997 blockbuster “Border,” also headlined by Deol, where, in 1971, along the border region of Longewala, a small battalion of Indian soldiers combat a large Pakistani strike force.
Gulshan Kumar and T-Series and Dutta’s J.P. Films are presenting “Border 2.” Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, J.P. Dutta and Nidhi Dutta, the film is due to release on Jan. 23, 2026, during the Republic Day holiday frame.
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Dhawan’s recent releases include “Bawaal” and “Bhediya” and he has Prime Video series “Citadel: Honey Bunny” coming up. Deol enjoyed massive box office success in 2023 with “Gadar 2.”
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J.P. Dutta is Bollywood’s war specialist. During the first half of his career, he focused on stories about western India’s Rajput community and then trained his sights on military films with “Border.” His “LOC: Kargil” (2003) recreated the 1999 Kargil War and “Paltan” (2018) was set during the 1967 India-China border clash.
Indian cinema continues to produce war films drawing from the country’s military history. Indian Air Force film “Fighter,” which deals with India-Pakistan conflict, is one of the biggest Bollywood hits of 2024. Recent entries in the genre include “Uri: The Surgical Strike” (2019), focusing on a skirmish with Pakistan, Bollywood’s favorite target, and submarine drama “The Ghazi Attack” (2017).
Bollywood mainstays and rising stars alike have taken on roles portraying military personnel. Films such as “Shershaah” (2021), starring Sidharth Malhotra and “Lakshya” (2004), headlined by Hrithik Roshan and Amitabh Bachchan blend combat sequences with dramatic storylines centered on soldiers’ personal lives and sacrifices.
“Bhuj: The Pride of India” (2021) focused on a specific incident from the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, “1971” (2007) depicted a prisoner of war escape story, and “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” (2020), was based on one of India’s first female air force pilots in combat.
