‘Lahore 1947': At IFFI 2025, Aamir Khan Reveals Dharmendra Watched Sunny Deol Film Before His Demise, Hinting It's Ready for Release (Watch Video)

Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan delivered a masterclass at the just concluded 56th International Film Festival of India aka IFFI 2025 in Goa. IFFI 2025 was held between November 20-28 in Goa. At an interaction held on November 27 at Kala Academy in Panaji, the Sitaare Zameen Par star spoke fondly about the late Dharmendra, who passed away just days before on November 24 in Mumbai. The iconic star of Hindi cinema, Dharmendra, is etched in the hearts of millions as the most handsome and effortless actor. At IFFI 2025, Aamir Khan recalled taking his younger son Azad Rao Khan along to meet Dharmendra, while also quietly revealing the legendary actor had seen the Sunny Deol film Lahore 1947. The movie, produced by Aamir Khan Productions and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, is based on Asghar Wajahat’s play Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai (translates to One Who Has Not Seen Lahore Has Not Been Born). Here’s what Aamir Khan revealed about Dharmendra and Lahore 1947. ‘Lahore 1947′: Sunny Deol Calls Aamir Khan Productions’ Project ‘Big Film’ of His Career; Actor Also Talks About Making of ‘Jaat’.

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Aamir Khan on Dharmendra and ‘Lahore 1947’

In his Fireside Chat at IFFI 2025 with Baradwaj Rangan titled 'The Narrative Architect of the Social Transformation', Aamir Khan spoke about his career and choice of films. The actor also had many fond memories of Dharmendra. "I’m not there in Bombay (Mumbai), but today (November 27) is his prayer meeting, unfortunately. I’m missing it. And I was very close to him, because in the last one year, I must have met him about seven to eight times. Because I used to really enjoy his company. So I used to go and sit with him. One day, I took Azad with me, my son. I said, I want you to meet someone, because Azad has not seen his work, really. But he came with me and we spent a couple of hours with him. It was really wonderful.”

“Dharam ji was not only a fine actor, but also a great human being. He was so gentle. He was like a gentle giant. And he was very loving, no matter who he would meet, whether it's a colleague, whether it's someone not from the industry, he would always be very warm and soft in meeting people. Always. So, he was a wonderful person and a great actor. It’s a great loss for all of us. He’s really an institution…. We’ve lost a really amazing talent," said Aamir Khan. IFFI 2025 Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Dharmendra; Filmmaker Rahul Rawail Calls Legendary Actor 'Iconic' and 'Exceptional Human Being' (Watch Videos).

“In fact, Lahore the film I’ve made with Sunny (Deol), I had the good fortune of showing him the film. He’s seen the film (although) it’s not released yet. But I was so glad…because this was one of his favourite scripts. I’m so glad he got to see the film,” revealed Aamir Khan.

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Aamir Khan's ‘Lagaan’ and Sunny Deol's ‘Gadar’ – Two Blockbusters Released Together

Incidentally, in 2001, Aamir Khan and Sunny Deol were individually part of two iconic period films of that year – Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha – respectively. Both films released on the same date on June 15, 2001, and went on to be the biggest blockbusters, considered classics today. While Lagaan went on to be nominated at the 74th Academy Awards (Oscar Awards) in the Best Foreign Language Film and went on to be in the Top 5, it did not win the prize. According to Aamir Khan, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha was a bigger hit, with truckloads of people coming to see it in theatres. Gadar was followed by a sequel, Gadar 2, which continued the story of the first part and with the same cast of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel. Gadar 2 released August 11, 2023, and was a blockbuster again.

‘Lahore 1947’ Release Date and Cast

After the success of Gadar 2, Aamir Khan and Sunny Deol came together to make Lahore 1947. Going by what Aamir Khan said, if Dharmendra has seen the film, or the major rushes, which means Lahore 1947 is complete. The film was earlier set to release in June 2025. However, it’s been pushed forward to 2026, with the actual release date announcement awaited. Like its name suggests, the story of Lahore 1947 will revolve around the Partition of India in 1947, with a crucial train sequence to recreate the happenings of the turbulent times.

Lahore 1947 stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Karan Deol, Ali Fazal and Abhimanyu Singh, among others. The film does not star Aamir Khan, although a cameo cannot be ruled out, considering its his home production.

Dharmendra was cremated in Mumbai on November 25 in the presence of family and close friends.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 29, 2025 12:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).