Batwara 1947 trailer: Sunny Deol takes on Pakan again, this time for the ‘religion of Maa’ | Bollywood News

4 min readNew DelhiJul 28, 2026 02:32 PM Batwara 1947 trailer: Sunny Deol-starrer Batwara 1947 trailer released on Tuesday, July 28. Also starring Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Ali Fazal, Karan Deol, the film is scheduled to release during the Independence Day weekend, on August 14. The trailer opens with Preity Zinta and Sunny Deol, who play husband and wife, congratulating each other on India’s independence. However, the joy is short-lived as they realise the country is to be divided into two and they move to Pakan.
Sunny gets into his Gadar-mode as he throws punches and fights many to get his family across the border but once in Pakan, he is allotted a large haveli, which was previously occupied a Hindu family, and Shabana Azmi, who was presumably the matriarch of that family, continues to live here. From here on, Sunny takes it upon himself to protect Shabana from the growing communal tension around their home. As intruders barge into their home where Shabana’s character prays in a mandir, Sunny roars, “Mandir todna Islam nahi hai (Damaging temples is not in accordance with Islam).”
He also takes on a mob who attacks Shabana for being a Hindu. Calling her a mother, Sunny says she is a religion unto herself: “Her bachche ka pehla mazhab maa hota hai (Every child’s first religion is their mother).”
Sunny’s son Karan Deol plays his on-screen son as well and as he warns another villain about his father. He says, “Tu mere baap ko nahi jaanta. Na ghar dekhenge na sarhad, seedha ghus ke maarenge (You don’t know my father, he won’t consider borders or homes when he attacks).” The dialogue is quite reminiscent of Gadar, as well as the ideology of the current establishment.
WATCH | Batwara 1947 trailer

Produced Aamir Khan, and directed Rajkumar Santoshi, the film brings back Sunny and Rajkumar after a long gap of 30 years. The duo was once known for delivering crowd-pleasing hits like Damini, Ghayal and Ghatak. In Sunny’s career, he has won two National Film Awards, and both of those have been for Santoshi’s films. In 1991, Sunny received a Special Jury Award for Ghayal, and in 1994, he won the Best Supporting Actor for Damini.
Aamir Khan-Sunny Deol’s first collaboration
Batwara 1947 also marks Sunny’s first collaboration with Aamir Khan as the latter is producing the film under his banner. The film is said to be based on Asghar Wajahat’s 1989 play Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai (The one who hasn’t experienced Lahore, hasn’t lived yet). The title is based on an old Punjabi phrase.
The film was announced shortly after the success of Gadar 2, which marked Sunny’s return as a hit action hero. Batwara 1947 was previously titled Lahore 1947. In March 2026, it was rumoured that the film’s title would be changed to Batwara 1947, however, Aamir denied those rumours and told Bollywood Hungama at the time. “Where did you hear that? No, the title of our film has not changed. As of now, it is Lahore 1947, and that’s how I would like it to be,” he said. In June 2026, the new title was announced.Story continues below this ad
Sunny Deol-Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘fallout’
Santoshi and Deol had a fallout during the making of their respective Bhagat Singh films in the early 2000s. It was reported that Santoshi was supposed to directed 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, which starred Bob Deol in the lead role, and had Sunny in the role of Chandrashekhar Azad. The film was produced Deols’ Vijayta Films. However, Santoshi bowed out of the project and made his own take on Bhagat Singh, starring Ajay Devgn, titled The Legend of Bhagat Singh. After the rift, the two never worked with each other.
Addressing their rift, Santoshi previously told News 18, “We did have a fallout. But he recognised me at a time when the world didn’t know me. Ghayal is my first film. He gave me the opportunity to make the film. He produced it. I was very new to the film industry but he gave me the full freedom to make the film my way. Yeh unka badappan hai (It is his greatness.)” Santoshi also directed Bob Deol’s debut film Barsaat after Shekhar Kapur bowed out of the film after shooting it for a month.
1947 Batwara will release on August 14.