How Bollywood went to Kabul

Kabir Khan's directorial venture in war-torn Kabul has fascinating behind-the-scenes stories.

HOW IT BEGAN
In one of the publicity shots in the promotional book of the film Kabul Express, long barbed wires coil dangerously in front of the five main characters, all of whom are looking lost in the dead town of Kabul.

These characters "" two Indians, one American, one Afghani and one Pakistani "" will encounter bullet-ridden monuments, rusted, worn-out army tanks, vast expanses of mountainous terrain and buildings mercilessly torn down and charred beyond recognition by stray bullets and bombs, in Kabir Khan's directorial film.

As I begin leafing through the book, Kabul Express: The Experience, designed by Fayyaz Badruddin of Yash Raj Films Design Cell, my head reels with a multitude of questions. Why did Yash Raj Films, the production house, and maker of countless blockbusters, choose to anchor such a different subject?

What prompted Aditya Chopra to take a break from all the romance and colour of mustard fields, and shift his focus to the dusty bylanes of Kabul?

He says, "I felt the urge to do something challenging, something different. I wanted to come out of my comfort zone of creating popular blockbusters and create a film for the international audience. When Kabul Express landed on my desk, I knew I had to make it as quickly as possible."

That the script reached Chopra's desk was courtesy Kabir, a well-known documentary filmmaker. He and Rajan Kapoor, executive producer, Kabul Express, travelled to the war-ravaged nation to shoot a documentary on the Taliban regime.

The turning point was when the duo went to a remote prison, deep inside the Panjshir valley, in a place called Doab and met 42-year-old Salahuddin Khaled, a terrorist from the Baluchistan province of Pakistan. The terrorist requested Kabir to let him make a phone call to his home and broke down in tears when he heard his daughter speak on the other side of the phone.

"That was the moment," says Kabir, "when we saw a dreaded terrorist of one of the most oppressive regimes of the world transform into a sobbing father. Somewhere," he adds, "in that small moment lay the seed of the idea of Kabul Express."

So what is the film about? According to the director, it is a story spanning 48 hours, about five individuals linked by hate and fear, but brought together by fate.

Set in post 9/11 war-torn Afghanistan, Kabul Express, feels Kabir, is a drama of people who are otherwise hostile towards each other but are compelled to understand one another in the time that they are forced to share together. While John Abraham and Arshad Warsi are already commercially successful actors, Kabir has roped in other actors from America, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Chopra says, "To have each person represent their country, and speak in their unique language has made the film look real."

The others include Linda Arsenio, a New York-based actress who has done some independent films in the US. Then there is Salman Shahid, a well-known Pakistani actor, theatre artiste and director. And Hanif Hum Ghum, from Afghanistan, who was captured and severely beaten up by the Taliban for having an acting career.

Imprisoned for six months, he escaped by selling his house and bribing the police. He lived as a refugee in Iran, occasionally acting in TV dramas, and returned to his country once the Taliban regime ended. One of the most respected names in the acting circuit in Afghanistan, Ghum hosts a television show on Tolo TV, the most popular television channel in the country.

THE SHOOTING
"Once I knew I wanted to make Kabul Express, I was certain that the film could only be shot in Afghanistan. It was not just a location; it was a character in my film," says Kabir.

He has travelled to Kabul 10 times as a documentary filmmaker and made his first feature film in Afghanistan too.

"I couldn't turn away from Kabul" he says, adding, "Not even when my cast and crew constantly received death threats from the Taliban." These are nuggets that Kabir jotted in his little diary while filming Kabul Express.

NOVEMBER 10, 2005
... Get a call from the Indian Ambassador. Intelligence has picked up reports of Taliban militants sent to Kabul to attack our cast and crew.

NOVEMBER 12, 2005
... The security minister tells us about a death threat issued for us by the Taliban but promises us unprecedented security... Armed guards stationed round-the-clock on the hills opposite our hotel.

NOVEMBER 14, 2005
...Two suicide bombers ram their cars into ISAF jeeps on the Jalalabad Road. Three German soldiers die. Blasts happen 10 minutes before our cars reach the spot. Security reroutes our cars.

NOVEMBER 19, 2005
...Got news of an Indian engineer, Kutty being kidnapped by the Taliban... The security minister tells us to stop shooting on the Jalalabad road. Says the Taliban is sending in spies on the buses and trucks that ply on that road.

NOVEMBER 23, 2005
... Kutty's beheaded body is discovered in Nimroz. Our security cover is intensified with 60 armed commandos always with us wherever we shoot. The logistics of shooting are increasing by the day and the temperatures are plummeting to -15 degrees C. Who said it is going to be easy?

Rajan remembers: "The first two weeks went like a dream, but then the death threats started, all hell broke loose. We had more security than crew members on the location."

One of the most dangerous episodes of filming Kabul Express was when, at one point, Kabir shouted orders to roll the cameras and a bullet whizzed past them. Shooting was stopped for an hour.

At another point, Rajan was seriously injured while canning a buzkashi (where horsemen from two teams grab a lamb carcass) shot and couldn't walk properly for a week.

Arshad Warsi was stunned when he saw Kabul. "There are more guns than mobile phones there," he says. But obviously proud of Kabul Express, he adds, "I would have been very upset had I not been involved in this film."

John Abraham agrees: "The story of Kabul Express is larger than all the actors." He adds, "After the death threats and a spate of suicide bombings, I asked my driver, 'Where do these bombers come from?' He answered, 'Allah can ask for you from whichever direction he chooses'."

Most people dissuaded Kabir from making Kabul Express. "But in doing so, I would have been playing a part in stopping the progress of a nation that is inching its way to normalcy," he says. For now, Kabul Express seems to be on the right track.