5 min readJan 29, 2026 08:04 AM IST
It would be unfair to say that Border 2 is a badly made film. Director Anurag Singh establishes the backstories of the central characters at a leisurely pace, and there are genuine moments of humour and sentiment. I chuckled at Diljit Dosanjh’s comic timing, I teared up watching two soldiers support each other when letters from home bring good news to one and bad news to another, I sang along when ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ played because the original is still such a core memory, and I wondered whether the founding fathers of India and Pakistan realised that they were leaving us a wound that would fester with hatred and discord even 75 years later. But as the inevitable battle scenes rolled around, emotional relatability and historical accuracy soon made way for flights of fancy. I was amused to see leading men lob grenades like water balloons with their ‘dhai kilo ke haath’ and cross the line from playing real-life heroes to being larger-than-life movie stars. I also couldn’t help but wonder, is nostalgia for a successful film or the renewed box office viability of a movie star reason enough to make a sequel? Especially if the sequel has no new perspective to offer on the 1971 Indo-Pak war, war films, wars in general, the history of animosity between India and Pakistan, or the men in uniform whose selflessness often defies human instincts of self-preservation.
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Perhaps that’s why Border 2 relies so heavily on moments, music and memories from Border to establish relevance and strike an emotional chord with audiences. Whether it’s using the original film’s songs, ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ when letters arrive for the soldiers, or playing a reprised version of ‘Jaate Hue Lamhon’ in the background when Ahan Shetty bids his wife goodbye, quite like his father did in the original film. Ahan’s character also repeats some of his father’s iconic dialogues from Border and uses similar metaphors while referring to India as his motherland. Sunny Deol faces off against a tank, and Varun Dhawan channels some of Dharamveer’s (Akshaye Khanna) angst and childhood trauma into his character Major Hoshiyar Singh Dahiya.
There is banter between soldiers, which brings comic relief, and gentle love stories that are a great foil to men who have to be aggressive on the frontlines. There is a place of worship in an abandoned village where a diya symbolises hope. Young women are widowed, young sons are lost to battle, there are moments of human connection between soldiers on opposite sides of the border, and help arrives unexpectedly when you feel all is lost. It’s a series of obvious and subtle references to Border that are designed to make you feel nostalgic for the movie that became a template and benchmark for war films in Bollywood.
Bollywood loves war films or films about the Armed Forces. In the past two years alone, we have had Fighter, 120 Bahadur, Sam Bahadur, Ikkis, Sarzameen and Border 2 release theatrically or on an OTT platform. Later this year, we will suspend disbelief to watch Salman Khan play an army officer in the film Battle of Galwan. But it’s worth questioning why we make war films in the first place. Is it to celebrate the valour of certain individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the nation? Is it to revisit a past conflict because it holds a political or thematic significance to events in the present? Do they speak to how we are doomed to keep making the same mistakes as human beings? Or is it to make a larger comment about how wars can never ensure the end of conflict or promise a peaceful future?
For a film that was made in 1997, Border’s practical effects, action sequences and pyrotechnics were impressive. As was the balance it struck between being a mass entertainer and a well-made war film that both questioned the need for battle and celebrated a soldier’s patriotic fervour. While Border 2 has a talented cast and far less jingoism than one expected given the political climate we live in, its commitment to paying homage to Border prevents it from coming into its own as a film. Quite like how a mimic may be entertaining, but he or she exists because of a celebrity who has had an impact on popular culture. The film is having a great run at the box office, which is good for the movie business. But sadly, and ironically, it loses an opportunity to be a great war film like Border that remains memorable even three decades later.
