The Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, who was in Abu Dhabi last week to shoot the thriller Baby, is one of Bollywood's biggest draws.
The National caught up with the actor, along with his co-stars Anupam Kher and Rana Daggubatti, during a break on his last of 10 days of filming in the capital.
Although Baby, due for release on January 23, also features scenes shot in Nepal, Istanbul and Delhi, Abu Dhabi seems to be becoming something of a second home for a growing number of Bollywood stars and productions, thanks in part to the diverse mix of locations and incentives such as a 30 per cent rebate on all productions filmed in the emirate.
Akshay, you also shot 2010’s Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai here, and Siddharth Anand’s Bang Bang (starring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, due out on October 2), filmed here earlier this year. What keeps bringing Bollywood back to the city?
Akshay Kumar: “For this film, we needed rough desert terrain and an Arabian airport. Plus, you just can’t shoot like this in Mumbai. They won’t close a part of the street for you – they’d rather close the shoot.”
Anupam Kher: “It’s close to Mumbai, it’s a very friendly place, it’s easy to get extras for crowd scenes from Dubai and Abu Dhabi and permissions are straightforward.”
Rana Daggubatti: “You get proper police protection here. All the equipment you need is available. There are good locations and we’ve got everything we want here. The weather at this time of year is the only bad thing, shooting action sequences in nearly 50-degree heat.”
Are many of the main cast here for the shoot or is it a smaller presence for just a small section of the film?
Kher: “Not at all. We have 120 people here from the cast and crew. Since we touched down last week we’ve shot in the Liwa Desert near Qasr Al Sarab, at Al Ain and Abu Dhabi airports and in Abu Dhabi city itself. Myself and Akshay wrap here today. Rana has another day’s shooting before the shoot closes tomorrow night.”
Abu Dhabi clearly has a pretty significant role in the film, then. Can we look forward to a glitzy Abu Dhabi premiere?
Kumar: “I think the time has passed for big premieres now. These things they call premieres where people come for half a day then say ‘bye bye’. That’s not a premiere. It’s tiring and boring.”
Kher: “Agreed. Nobody really does premieres like they used to anymore – in Hollywood, maybe, but not Bollywood.”
Akshay, you say you’ll be coming back to Abu Dhabi next year to shoot another film. Can you tell us more about it?
Kumar: "It's another thriller, and it's called Airlift. We'll be shooting here in May of 2016.
Akshay, you have a pretty impressive CV of more than 125 films spanning action, comedy and drama, and more recently have taken to TV presenting, too. If you could be in any movie or TV show of any genre, past, present or future, what would it be?
“I’d love to make a film about zombies. I love horror films. My wife and I really enjoy watching horror films. We watch them at home all the time and I’d really love to make a zombie film, but I don’t think anyone in Bollywood would ever make it.”
cnewbould@thenational.ae
