'Kabul Express': A departure from Bollywood formula films

A dramatic moment in the film

From an award-winning documentary maker to feature film and that too under the most sought-after banner of Bollywood is no less a fairy-tale big-screen debut for young director Kabir Khan.

His much talked about feature film Kabul Express stars Arshad Warsi, John Abraham, Pakistani, Afghan and American actors.

What is more significant for Khan, a graduate from Jamia Milia University in Delhi, is that Yash Raj Films, the producer of Kabul Express, has deviated radically from its trademark Bollywood formula movies with a political film on post-Taliban Afghanistan, in allowing him to direct the film the way he wanted to.

Kabul Express is the story of two Indian journalists who go to Afghanistan after the US-led invasion of that country in 2001 post 9/11 for an interview with a Taliban leader and deals with their journey from Kabul to Pakistan.

To capture a South Asian audience, he included besides Warsi and Abraham, Pakistani actor Salman Shahid, Afghan actor Hanif Hum Ghum and American actress Linda Arsenio who play the roles of characters who are forced to trust each other during an abduction ordeal spread over 36 hours.

Khan's first feature film was the result of his experiences of shooting his documentaries in Afghanistan, including The Taliban Years and Beyond shown on Discovery channel in 2003 and The Titanic Sinks in Afghanistan about environmental degradation in that country which won the International SASA award.

In shooting Kabul Express in Afghanistan, Khan and his team encountered security threats and landmines, which halted the shooting of the film temporarily.

But Yash Raj Films seems to have faith in Khan's abilities. He has already been given three more projects by the same producer.

Other award winning documentaries by Khan are: The Forgotten Army (winner of Grand Jury award at Film South Asia Festival) and Two Assassinations and an Accident (National Award).