Filmmaker Kabir Khan spent numerous time in Afghanistan when he was engaged on documentaries. But, when he went to the nation to shoot his first Bollywood movie, Kabul Express (2006), Kabir acquired a loss of life risk from the Taliban.
In a current interview with Mashable’s The Bombay Journey, Kabir recalled how he and his workforce had been warned a few loss of life risk 14 days into the shoot of Kabul Express. He mentioned, “The Indian ambassador called us and asked, ‘Kya kar rahe ho?’ (What are you doing?) We told him we are shooting our film. So, he told us to come to his office once we are done. We packed up the shoot that day and went to meet him. When we reached there, there was the Indian ambassador and an Indian military attache. They told us that the American, the Afghan and our intelligence have told us there is a credible death threat on you, your actors and your film unit. Five people have been sent by a unit across the border in Pakistan to hit out at your unit. ‘Khoon sookh gaya ye sun kar (I was numb on hearing this).”
Kabir Khan first despatched the movie’s lead actors John Abraham and Arshad Warsi again to Bombay and locked his movie’s unit in a well-secured resort. While he was occupied with returning to India as he couldn’t danger his workforce’s life, the Afghans stepped up. “Afghans took it personally and said ‘How can the Taliban stop your shooting?’ The Afghan security minister came and said if you return to India tomorrow, it would be our defeat,” the filmmaker recalled.
Meanwhile, Kabir additionally received a name from the movie’s producer Aditya Chopra who promised him that even when he returns to India, the manufacturing of his debut Bollywood movie won’t cease. “He said in the history of Yash Raj, no film has stopped mid-production and yours will not be the first,” Kabir shared.
And, when Kabir Khan determined to remain again, the Afghans did all the pieces to make sure the safety of the Kabul Express’ workforce. “60 armed commandos landed up on our doorstep armed by the Afghan standards. In the morning, we will leave with 40-45 SUVs. On our way, every window had a gun coming out of it, that’s how we reached our sets. Only I knew where we were shooting and the others used to follow me. There was no call sheet,” the filmmaker revealed.
Kabul Express, launched in 2006, was loosely primarily based on Kabir and his buddy Rajan Kapoor’s experiences in Afghanistan.
