''What you achieved": Ameesha Patel reveals Sanjay Bhansali asked her to retire after Gadar in 2001

Actor Ameesha Patel is celebrating the success of Gadar 2, and in a recent interview, she recalled enjoying similar success in 2001, after the release of the first Gadar film. The first film was released shortly after Ameesha’s debut with Hrithik Roshan, in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, and both films were massive hits. Ameesha said that after Gadar, she got a letter from director Sanjay Leela Bhansali complimenting her work.“After watching Gadar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali wrote a really beautiful letter, a complimentary letter to me, and when I had a meeting with him, he said ‘Ameesha, you should retire now.’ I was like ‘why?’ I didn’t understand,” she told Bollywood Hungama.

She then recalled what Bhansali told her at the time, “He said, ‘Because you have already achieved in two films which most people don’t achieve in their entire career. Once in a lifetime (films like) Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Pakeezah, Sholay get made, you had it in your second film, so what next. Ameesha said that since she was new to the movies at the time, she did not understand what the filmmaker meant. After Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Gadar, Ameesha appeared in films such as Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Humraaz, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, among others, but none of them were as successful as her first two films. Ameesha Patel made her acting debut with Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, opposite Hrithik Roshan. She is best known for starring in movies such as Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Ameesha Patel also appeared in Bigg Boss 13 as a guest. Gadar 2 has resurrected the career of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel who have been inactive in films for quite sometime.