Actor John Abraham, who starred in the 2006 thriller Kabul Express, has recalled in a recent interview the challenges he faced while shooting in the conflict-stricken country. Kabul Express marked the directorial debut of Kabir Khan. The fictional film, which is set in post 9/11 Afghanistan, is said to be loosely based on the personal experiences of Kabir and his friend Ranjan Kapoor.
The shooting of the film was done in Afghanistan when the Taliban’s reign ended and tensions between the Taliban and the US were at peak. Highlighting that, John has shared some thrilling incidents from the making of the movie. In an interview with Mashable India, John shared that the crew was staying at the house of former President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah. John added that when he went to the terrace to have tea, he witnessed a rocket that struck the US consulate.
John highlighted that “Condoleezza Rice used to be the US foreign secretary to the state in Afghanistan at the time.” He further claimed that the rocket attack was “Afghanistan’s way of telling her that they are not happy with the Americans here.”
John shared another incident where he claimed that they reached a place just six hours after a suicide bomber blew himself. “It was quite an experience,” John added.
Earlier, even director Kabir Khan had shed light on the thrill of taking up a film project in a country like Afghanistan. While shooting in Kabul, Kabir Khan was informed by the Indian ambassador that the Taliban had sent a “five-man death squad,” as reported by India Today.
Khan said that the news made everyone nervous and that there were more security personnel on the film set than crew members. Khan claimed that Taliban wanted to stop the shooting while suggesting that people could not live normally there anymore.
Considering the threats by Taliban, Khan said that the then Afghanistan government provided them a safe passage and beefed up security with a number of armed commandos and SUVs to escort them.
