Highlights Of Grandson Of Sardar Ahead Of Its Release

1.     In her directorial debut Kaashvie Nair, daughter  of  filmmaker Shashilal Nair(who made  talked-about films like Angaar, Falak and Grahan  in the 1980s)  has  accumulated an impressive cast , with Neena Gupta  playing the  matriarch  again. Neena  gets top billing  above Arjun Kapoor who plays  her  beloved grandson .  Neena Calls  it the Badhaai Ho affect.

2.     The surprise  is  John Abraham  who appears in fhashbacks  as a Sardar in Lahore  during the Partition in 1947. John is technically Neena Gupta’s husband  in the  film, Neena’s younger version  is played  by Aditi Rao Hydari who has made a career of playing pretty, marginal  characters .

3.     Interestingly veteran actor  Kanwaljeet who played Neena  Gupta’s  husband  in Neena’s game-changing series Saans  in 1998 about  a  woman’s search for  her identity  beyond  a broken marriage. Kanwaljeet  plays Neena’s son  Grandson Of Sardar. Reminds  of the legendary Waheeda Rehman who played  Amitabh  Bachchan’s wife  in Kabhie Kabhie and mother in Trushul on year later.

4.     A  major chunk of  the story unfolds in Pakistan. Pakistan  being  impossible to film  in ,Lahore was recreated in  Punjab down to the  minutest detail. Deepa Mehta’s  1947 Earth, Anil Sharma’s Gadar:Ek Prem Katha  , Raj Kapoor’s Henna are  other  films that were denied permission to shoot  in Pakistan.

5.     During the  Straight-to- OTT trend  during the past year   feature films have suffered  a cold response from the audience : Laxmii, Coolie No1 and  now Radhe: Your Most Wanted  Bhai. Would  Grandson Of Sardar  turn the  tide?