time he received the offer, but he agreed to play the role when approached again. Sanjay Kapoor and Armaan Kohli were approached for Bhairon Singh's role when Shetty declined the role the first time. Aashif Sheikh was signed for the film, but was later replaced by Sudesh Berry. J. P. Dutta originally wanted Sonali Bendre for Sapna Bedi's role, but things couldn't work out at that time. Aamir Khan was the original choice for Dharamvir's role. During production and filming, both the Indian Army and Air Force provided vehicles, rifles, and machine guns as well as uniforms and tactics used by the Pakistani Army during the Battle of Longewala. T-55 tanks resembling Chinese origin Pakistani Type-59s, weapons of the 70's era like Bren machine guns and SLRs as well as Air Force Planes like Hawker Hunters and MiG-21s were shown. All the actors, especially Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, and Jackie Shroff, were extremely nostalgic and felt elated and honored to be a part of such an epic war movie. After the filming was completed, director Dutta said, "Border has a gigantic canvas on which I have tried to bring some real-life characters alive. It was shot on actual locations in the deserts of Rajasthan. For me, Border was like fighting a war." Soundtrack The music of the movie was composed by Anu Malik, while the lyrics were penned by Javed Akhtar. Songs like "Toh Chalun", "Sandese Aate Hai", "Mere Dushman, Mere Bhai" and "Hamein Jab Se Mohabbat" became memorable. To this day, the songs of the film are not only popular in India, but also in Pakistan. Javed Akhtar won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist, while Anu Malik was nominated for the Filmfare award for his work in composing the music of this movie. Accolades Anti-war message Border intended to make an appeal against war. Thus, the end of the movie depicted most soldiers dead and the trauma it caused to their family members. The lyrics of the song "Mere Dushman Mere Bhai" sung by Hariharan criticises war and describes its disastrous effects, with the lines "Hum Apne Apne Kheton Mein Gehoon Ki Jagah Chaanval Ki Jagah, Ye Bandookein Kyoon Botein Hain.... Jab Dono Hi Ki Galiyon Mein, Kuch Bhooke Bachche Rotein Hain....!!" ("Why do we grow guns in our farms instead of wheat and rice, when children in our countries cry due to hunger...." Sequels In 2013,