Still Image from Pathan (courtesy: @i_am_srkoholic)
Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham's Pathaan has been breaking records at the box office and garnering critical acclaim worldwide. The Sidharth Anand directorial has set a new benchmark for action movies in Bollywood. Though the high-octane action sequences weren't easy to shoot. That too, at the Burj Khalifa Boulevard in Dubai. It was “shut down for the first time,” only and only for Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan. After all, he is the brand ambassador of Dubai. Team Pathaan, on Thursday, shared a BTS video from the film's set in Dubai. The video shows how the “toughest action” scenes between SRK's Pathaan and John's Jim were shot at the “magnificent Dubai boulevard,” according to the makers. Siddharth Anand, who is known for action movies such as War and Bang Bang!, revealed that the sequences where Pathaan and Jim are fighting on a moving train, “mid-air with planes” and at the boulevard around the Burj Khalifa were the hardest to shoot.
“The toughest action to execute in Pathaan – one is on top of a moving train, one is mid-air with planes, one is in Dubai which takes place in the boulevard around the Burj Khalifa (the one where Jim pulls down helicopters), which no Hollywood film has been able to do. To shoot this sequence in Dubai, it just looked impossible. But the Dubai police and the authorities made it happen for us,” the director said in the video.
The scene in question starts with a high-speed car chase, where Jim stands in the middle of the road and targets Pathaan's vehicle. It is followed by their fight atop a speeding truck as two helicopters hover over them.
Siddharth added, “My friends, who live at the boulevard, came and told me that they got circulars saying on this day between this time, you will not be able to access the boulevard so please plan your days. And they were amazed that, oh my god… that's for my film!” The director then thanked the Dubai police and authorities for their unwavering support.
In Pathaan, SRK plays the role of a covert ops agent while John Abraham portrays the antagonist and former RAW agent Jim. Deepika Padukone plays the role of ISI agent Rubai.
Shah Rukh Khan described the experience of shooting in Dubai as “wonderful.” He said, “Dubai has been very, very kind to me, me and everyone who goes from Indian cinema. The production team called up the authorities and said, ‘We are shooting a scene with Shah Rukh,' and they said, ‘No, no, please go ahead, he is our brand ambassador. Please take this permission, finish it off fast but we will allow you to shoot it.' I think Dubai, film industry wise, is the most international film producing nation…The experience is always wonderful to shoot in Dubai.”
Action director Casey O'Neill, who has worked on films like Jack Reacher and Top Gun: Maverick, collaborated with Siddharth Anand for Pathaan. He, along with John Abraham, talked about shooting the high-decibel action scenes at Dubai boulevard in the clip.
The makers of the film, while sharing the video on YouTube, wrote: “The magnificent Dubai boulevard was shut down for the first time and it was for Shah Rukh Khan and Pathaan!”
Take a look:
Pathaan has emerged as the highest-earning film in Bollywood already. The Hindi version of the film, in India, has collected over Rs 436 as of now. The overall collections of the film at home have reached Rs 452.95 crore, as per trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
Pathaan was released in theatres on January 25.