Bollywood actress Ameesha Patel is bowled over by her fans’ love. For years, the Indian actress admits, wherever she went, her fans tirelessly urged her to recreate her iconic screen characters. So, finally when in 2023, she got to play an older Sakina, in Gadar 2, the sequel to Gadar, Ek Prem Katha, it turned out to be an overwhelming experience for her, witnessing the extent of the audience’s love for the lead characters – Tara Singh (played by Sunny Deol) and her Sakina– as the movie broke several box office records.
Released after a gap of 22 years, the sequel garnered over $87 million worldwide in collections, becoming the eighth highest grossing Indian film of all time. ‘At events and at airports, I have often met fans, reciting dialogues and singing lyrics from movies I’ve starred in decades ago. When we were making the sequel to Gadar, I knew these movies have a dedicated fan following. But even then, I could not have anticipated the degree of fan fascination, that has made this sequel such a blockbuster success,’ an ecstatic Ameesha tells Friday.
The 48-year-old, petite, doe eyed actress, made her debut in the year 2000 with the colossal hit Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai opposite Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan. Yet over the years, she has had quite a tumultuous career with several memorable hits and many unmentionable flops.
Her first film had earned Ameesha the Zee Cine Award for the Best Female Debut. She followed it up with another runaway success the same year – the Telugu action drama Badri. This winning streak continued with Gadar, Ek Prem Katha released a year later in 2001, where she played a damsel in distress, who falls in love with the brawny Sikh Tara Singh.
But even as Ameesha tasted success early on with these hits, she was also written off when a series of her films flopped at the box office soon after.
In a career spanning over two decades, the actress has tenaciously resurrected herself time and again, essaying leading and supporting roles in Race 2, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Honeymoon Travels PVT Ltd and the most recent being her comeback with Gadar 2. ‘There were some days when I felt low and asked myself and my friends that, ‘Why wasn’t I a part of the regular Friday releases’, and they always reassured me saying that I wasn’t cut out for such cinema, reminding me how my iconic roles continue to be etched in the hearts of audiences, even after so many years,’ she says.
Though Ameesha returned to the big screen after a gap of 10 years, her life was always under the limelight. Being a celebrity under constant microscopic scrutiny has not been easy, she says. ‘Each and every move of a public figure is examined and at times escalated unnecessarily. Even in Bollywood, you are a woman in a man’s world. It’s a tough path to walk on. But I have faced all the challenges in my life head on as a soldier,’ she says.
The actress, who was born in Mumbai in a family of lawyers and politicians, says that the driving force in her life has been her immense self-belief, her strong values and a close-knit group of people she surrounds herself with. She was especially close to her paternal grandmother, late Sushila Patel Gokhale, wife of barrister Rajni Patel, a well-known lawyer and politician. ‘My grandmother always told me that the path of truth is hard, but ultimately it will help you to be a winner,’ she says, ‘So even though I did not have a godfather in Bollywood, I had God above, who always watched over me.’
Even the discussions over the making of Gadar 2, she shares, started first before the pandemic, but had to be put on hold and was only later replanned. ‘After the pandemic, worldwide cinema has taken a beating and OTT has taken over. Making Gadar 2 was a big risk but it has paid off. Look at how it brought audiences back to the big screen,’ she says.
Essaying the role of a Pakistani girl, Sakina, in the epic period love story, Gadar has been a profoundly enriching experience, says Ameesha. The first time around, the Boston-educated actress was in her mid-twenties, when she was signed on to play Sakina, a young college student in pre-partition India, who is later depicted in the movie as a married woman and a mother to a seven-year-old. ‘I was very young, mostly performing college student roles those days and here I had to do a period film, playing a mother. I had to capture that transition in looks and through my acting. Thanks to our director, I had prepared well, learnt Urdu, and understood many nuances of playing a Muslim girl in pre-independence era,’ she adds.
Years later, when she had to recreate an older Sakina in Gadar 2, she had also aged and felt more aligned to playing a mature character.
Interestingly, both films, the actress points out, are packed with pertinent social messages.
In the Anil Sharma-directed movies, Sakina is shown accepting her husband’s Sikh culture and at the same time also practicing her own faith.
‘The love story of Tara and Sakina is a perfect example of how humanity and love wins over religious and cross-country differences. The movie has a strong message of communal harmony and teaches us the coexistence of religions and cultures.’
Today as a 40-plus actress, Ameesha feels she has her own special place in Bollywood. She points out how all the reigning heroes are well into their fifties, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. ‘A young actress can’t bring the wealth of experience that an older actress can. I don’t get stressed about age. I want to continue working till my last breath.’
To young actors entering the industry she advises them to never give up and most importantly to complete their education.
‘Bollywood has its share of ups and downs, so you should be prepared to face all the hurdles that might come your way,’ she says.
In the age of social media, Ameesha cautions newcomers to focus on their craft rather than them spending time making reels and attending events and parties. ‘You may have millions of followers, but if that does not correspond to them buying tickets to see your films, then, what is the point?’ she asks.
Off camera who’s the real Ameesha, I ask.
‘I am very real. What you are seeing is how I am. Even on my Instagram, nothing is choreographed. If I go to the gym and feel like posting a workout pic, I will. If I’m out with my friends and I want to post a celebratory photo, I will. I don’t believe that my Instagram should be a portfolio of my hair and make-up shoots, giving my fans the wrong notion that we look perfect all the time.’
There is no one particular fitness or beauty regime that the actress follows. Instead her daily life mantras include praying twice a day, hitting the gym whenever she’s in the city, taking long walks in parks in disguise and spending quality time with her tribe of people.
An avid booklover, she enjoys reading a range of genres and authors – be it spiritual books by Khalil Gibran and Dr Brian Weiss, crime fiction of Agatha Christie, chick lit by Sophie Kinsella, and Indian author Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy. She is currently reading the Bhagavad Gita in English.
Riding on the massive success of Gadar 2, the actress says, she is looking forward to newer and interesting projects in 2024 and is keen to essay many more memorable roles. But most of all, she reveals, she would like her fans to remember her as a good human being. ‘One day when I’m no more, I wish my fans would revisit my films and love my performances,’ she says.
