action, Ahan Shetty, Anurag Singh, Anya Singh, Border 2, Diljit Dosanjh, Guneet Sandhu, India, Medha Rana, movies, reviews, Sonam Bajwa, Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan
January 25, 2026
by Carla Hay
Directed by Anurag Singh
Hindi with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in 1971 (with some flashbacks to earlier years), in various part of India and in Pakistan, the action film “Border 2” (a standalone sequel to the 1997 movie “Border”) features a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: The India–Pakistan war of 1971 has various effects on the lives of an Indian Army official and three men (each representing the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force) whom he helped train in a cadet academy.
Culture Audience: “Border 2” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the first “Border” movie, and epic war films that make the protagonists fully developed human beings.
“Border 2” salutes Indian patriotism in this standalone sequel to 1997’s “Border,” which is also set during the India–Pakistan war of 1971. Don’t expect historical accuracy in “Border 2.” It’s an absorbing story about friendships, courage and sacrifices. Unlike many war fims that only care about showing the violence and atrocities of war, “Border 2” takes the time for viewers to get to know the four main protagonists who are at the center of the story.
Directed by Anurag Singh (who co-wrote the “Border 2” screenplay with Sumit Arora, “Border 2” is a standalone sequel to 1997’s “Border,” written and directed by J.P. Dutta. Sunny Deol is a star of both movies, but he portrays different characters in each movie. In “Border,” Deol depicts a heroic young Army major. In “Border 2,” Deol has the role of a heroic middle-aged Army lietenant colonel who is training officer at a military academy for servicemen in the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Fateh Singh Kaler (played Deol), an Indian Army officer from the Sikh Regiment, is a character inspired by the real life Hardev Singh Kler, a decorated major general who fought in World War II and in the India–Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971. Almost all the other characters in “Border 2” are completely fictional, although some of the movie’s battle scenes are partially based on real battles. Fateh is a no-nonsense leader who is quick to disciplne anyone whom he thinks deserves to be punished.
Three other main protagonists in the movie come from different backgrounds and different branches of the Indian military, but they develop a close friendship with each other. This friendship is the soul of “Border 2,” which shows how this friendship evolves and is affected by the war. Although the main story of “Border 2” is set in 1971, the movie’s non-chronological timeline has flashbacks to previous years.
The three military friends who develop a close bond are Hoshiar Singh Dahiya (played by Varun Dhawan), who becomes an Indian Army major from 3 Grenadiers; Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon (played by Diljit Dosanjh), who becomes an Indian Air Force flying officer from No. 18 Squadron; and Mahendra Singh Rawat (played by Ahan Shetty), who becomes an Indian Navy lieutenant commander from the 14th Frigate Squadron. The character of Mahendra is based on the real-life Mahendra Nath Mulla, a captain in the Indian Navy during the India–Pakistan war of 1971.
Hoshiar is very focused and has a serious attitude about almost everything. Hoshiar is not easy to get to know and has a tendency to keep people at an emotional distance until he feels those people have earned his trust. It’s in contrast to Nirmal, a fun-loving and friendly extrovert who likes to joke around and who isn’t shy about showing his emotions. Nirmal can sometimes be overly confident, which comes across as being arrogant. Mahendra is calm, diplomatic, and the least likely of the three pals to get into an argument.
Hoshiar, Nirmal and Mahendra join the academy around the same time. At first, Hoshiar and Nirmal have an intense dislike for each other, not just because they feel competitive with each other but mainly because their personalities clash. Nirmal interprets Hoshiar’s aloofness as arrogance. Hoshiar interprets Nirmal’s playfulness as disrepectful. Mahendra is often caught in the middle of these conflicts and tries to keep the peace.
The fights between Hoshiar and Nirmal result in Fateh having to give punishments to Hoshiar and Nirmal. And if Mahendra happens to be present during these fights, he gets equally blamed and punished too. The punishments aren’t severe and usually involve the men having to do more hours of strenuous physical activities, such as running exercises or push-ups. The most comedic moments in “Border 2” have to do with these shenanigans.
A breakthough in ending this feud happens one day when Nirmal notices that Hoshiar does not have anyone to talk to during the times that the cadets are allowed phone calls to and from loved ones. Nirmal mentions this to Mahendra, who tells Nirmal that Hoshiar doesn’t have any family members because Hoshiar’s widower father died during war combat when Hoshiar was a child. Hoshiar was raised by his grandmother, who is also now deceased.
This information makes Nirmal see Hoshiar in a more emapathetic way and helps Nirmal understand why Hoshiar has a hard time making friends. Nirmal decides to call a truce by giving a small trinket to Hoshiar as a token of friendship. Hoshiar is emotionally moved by this gift and hugs Nirmal. Hoshiar, Nirmal and Mahendra then become best friends with each other.
It turns out that Hoshiar does have family members, but they are not related to him biologically. A flashback shows that Hoshiar is an arranged marriage with a woman he barely knows. He married his wife Dhanvanti Devi Dahiya (played by Medha Rana) shortly before he began military service. Dhanvanti loves Hoshiar, but he has kept his distance from her and hasn’t spent any quality time with her while he has been on military leave.
Nirmal and Mahendra are both happily married. Hoshiar’s friendship with Nirmal and Mahendra has made Hoshiar understand that he’s been a neglectful husband, so Hoshiar takes steps to improve his marriage and get to know his wife Dhanvanti better. The movie’s flashbacks include the courthsip of Nirmal and his wife Manjit Sekhon (played by Sonam Bajwa) and the couple’s journey in trying to start a family. Mahendra and his wife Sudha Rawat (played by Anya Singh) have a daughter who’s about 4 or 5 years old in the 1971 part of the movie.
Meanwhile, flashbacks show that Fateh has had challenges in his own marriage. He and his wife Simi Kaler (played by Mona Singh) have been deeply affected by their adult son Angad Singh Kaler (played by Guneet Sandhu), an Indian Army captain from 7 Sikh, being part of the war combat. Angad is the couple’s only son.
Simi was very much against Angad joining the military. By contrast, Fateh argued with Simi to let Angad make the decision on what Angad wanted to do. Angad wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and also become an Army leader, so Angad joined the Army. In real life, Kler (the inspiration for the Fateh character) had an adult son who also served in combat during the India–Pakistan war of 1971, but the real-life outcome of this father/son militarty experience was very different than what’s shown in “Border 2.”
The first half of “Border 2” shows the relationships that all four protagonists have with each other and other people before they head into combat. Some adequate song-and-dance numbers are also in this half of the movie. The second half of “Border 2” is mostly about showing the combat scenes, which are suspenseful, brutal and harrowing. The violence in the movie is not gratutious and it doesn’t insult viewers’ intelligence. In “Border 2,” the “heroes” all come out unscathed in explosive and dangerous situations where people would be seriously injured or killed in real life.
There are no bad acting performances from any of the principal cast members, but Deol and Dosanjh succeed the most in showing the nuances of their respective characters’ personalities. Deol’s Fateh is rigid and stoic on the job. But the scenes of Fateh at home show his vulnerable side. Dosanjh’s portrayal of Nimral demonstrates that Nirmal isn’t just a jokester but can be very loyal and responsible.
Dhawan does a good job of showing how Hoshiar learns how to open up more to his work colleagues and in his personal life. Shetty’s Mohendra character is such a good guy who gets along with everyone he knows, he’s almost too good to be true. Shetty isn’t required to have much acting range “Border 2,” which makes Mondhera a litte one-note in his personality. The supporting cast members are servicable in their roles.
With a total run time of 200 minutes,”Border 2″ is an “epic” in every sense of the word. There’s a tendency for some war movies to make the protagonists into shallow characters that are similar to characters in video games or cartoons. “Border 2” avoids this cinematic trap. The four main characters are believable as fully developed human beings, even if some of these characters are given more compelling story arcs than others.
“Border 2” is not a perfect movie. The visual effects have some noticeable flaws,. The music score can be bombastic. The dialogue and scenes are sometimes hokey. For example, there’s a scene where Hoshiar, Nirmal and Mahendra hug each other before going into battle against the Pakistani military, and Nirmal says: “Let’s give them hell, brothers!” However, the most admirable quality of “Border 2” is that does not gloss over the tremendous toll that war has on everyone, regardless of which side is declared the winner.
AA Films released “Border 2” in U.S. cinemas and in India on January 23, 2026.