Aug172021
  • Amitabh Bachchan’s film Khuda Gawah was shot in Afghanistan in very difficult times. In an old social media post, the actor had narrated the experience.
  • Afghanistan is in news with the Taliban takeover of the country. However, in the past, the country has had a connection with Bollywood with films like Dharmatma to Kabul Express being shot there.

    One such movie that was filmed there was Amitabh’s Khuda Gawah (1992). A sequence of Buzkashi (a sport played while riding horses) was shot in and around Mazar-e-Sharif in the ‘extremely troubled times’. In 2013, Amitabh recalled the entire experience in a Facebook.

    He had written, “It was produced by Manoj Desai, it was supposed to be a six-day guest appearance but developed into a full-fledged role at his insistence. I cherish the memory of the movie entirely for the trip where it was shot during extremely troubled times.”

    An NDTV report, quoting from his post, had added, “The Soviets had just left the country and power handed over to Najibullah Ahmadzai who was a die-hard fan of popular Hindi cinema. He wanted to meet me and we were given right royal treatment. We were treated as VVIP state guests at Mazare-e-Sharif and taken through the length and breadth of the incredibly beautiful country in airplanes with armed escorts. We received the traditional warmth of the locals who have passion of hospitality. We weren’t allowed to stay in hotel… a family just vacated its home for us and moved to a smaller house.”