'Border 2' maker Nidhi Dutta reveals father JP Dutta risked health and money for LOC: 'Anything can happen'

The Sunny Deol' starrer 'Border 2' has indeed impressed the audiences with it's stunning performances and also due to it's well crafted war sequences.Now the producer Nidhi Dutta has opened up about how hard her father, filmmaker JP Dutta, worked while making big war films like LOC: Kargil.Talking to News 18, She says, "He put everything he had into those films, even things he should not have risked."Nidhi explained that he used up his own personal savings because he wanted the film to be made in the best possible way. She says, “He’s a very passionate filmmaker. He exhausted his personal savings to make sure that LOC was made.”Nidhi also shared that it was not only money that he risked. It was also his own health.

She revealed, "He was shooting in Ladakh, and his blood pressure suddenly went extremely high. “He has very high blood pressure. It was 240/130. He had sworn to the army doctor not to tell my mom, grandfather or the unit about his health issue.”Later, when he came back home, the truth came out the doctor had warned JP Dutta seriously and told him, “Anything can happen to you. It’s a chance you’re taking with your life.”Nidhi shared that her father still continued shooting because he wanted to tell the story with honesty and love.

How JP Dutta responded to the doctor’s warning

Nidhi remembered that her father did not slow down even after hearing the doctor’s warning. She relayed, “My dad then told him that nothing can happen to him as the boys he’s making the film for won’t let him die.”She further added that this passion and feeling is something she wants to carry forward as a legacy. The producer added that she always saw him put his heart first before anything else.The shoot also had sad moments. Nidhi revealed that two light men passed away during the shoot.

She elaborated, “We had two light men who passed away during the making, because they were drinking. They weren’t allowed to drink. They were heart patients, which they hadn’t told us at that point. They had 90% blockages.”

LOC faced problems even after release

Nidhi says that when LOC: Kargil was released, JP Dutta faced a lot of criticism because the film was almost four hours long. Distributors complained to him that the movie was too long and they were losing shows.

They asked him to cut the film. But he refused.She shared in the same interview, “He was suggested to trim down the film, but he refused. He didn’t want to chop its emotional quotient because he felt the families of the martyrs would go to theatres looking for their loved ones.” JP Dutta felt that if he cut the emotional parts, he would be disrespecting the soldiers. So he stood by his decision and didn’t care about money.

Why he finally decided to make LOC

Nidhi also says that her father was not fully ready to make the film at first. She says he felt the Kargil war had just happened and it was too soon. But then a colonel came to meet him and said this story must be told.She recalls, “If 100 soldiers were killed, 99 were shot in the eye because that was the vantage point the Pakistanis had while our boys were going up the mountains.”Her father then decided that he must make the film.

'Border 2' box office update

Meanwhile, 'Border 2' is doing strong business but has been dropping after day 10 according to Sacnilk website reports. The film earned Rs 30 crore on day 1 and Rs 59 crore on Republic Day. On Day 14, it made Rs 3.35 crore. The total India collection now stands at Rs 294.25 crore.