Dunes, dance and that dash of Bollywood

Why would the makers of a bigbudget tentpole movie starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff decide to shoot it in the middle of nowhere That was our first thought when we landed on the set of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan near Wadi Rum in Jordan on the last day of the shoot The term lsquoin the middle of nowherersquo is not being used lightly heremdashwish we could show you images from the shoot unfortunately they are under embargo But picture this dramatic clouds against the blue sky unending desert and rugged mountain ranges as far as the eye can seeA 250member unit shot the song in Wadi Rum over seven days under Ali Abbas Zafarrsquos directionFrom Mumbai it took us two flights and a fourhour drive from Amman to reach Wadi Rum From there Mohammed also known as Michael Schumacher drove us down to the location for another 30 minutes as we battled gusts of cold wind and three degree temperature Then there was a trek to the spot where the unit was shooting Enough to make a fellow scribe joke ldquoOnly Akshay and Tiger are cut out to do this every dayrdquo He was rightSoon there was respite as we heard some Hindi in the air Sure enough we had reached the set mdasha 250people unit shooting a song with Kumar Shroff and leading ladies Manushi Chhillar and Alaya F On this day choreographer Bosco Martis was running the set discussing steps with director Ali Abbas Zafar for the final okay While we shivered underneath our two jackets Shroff was practicing his steps shirtless ldquoIrsquom loving the warmth of the sunrdquo he told us enthusiastically This is perhaps the passion that goes behind making an action extravaganza mdashactors director and the crew going to any lengths to give you the bigscale feel The bigscreen magic comes at a priceThough in Jordan the price is significantly less In the past few years the country has been the site of some major productions including Dennis Villeneuversquos Dune 2021 and John Wick Chapter 4 2023 Producer Jackky Bhagnani explains that the local crew is trained cheap and easily available Itrsquos inexpensive to shoot here with the rebates the government offers even allowing 10 months of shoot without any additional taxes What lures Zafar though is the stunning visual palette from the sea to the mountains from the rustic to the grandAkshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff in Bade Miyan Chote MiyanAfter an eighthour shoot we all headed to the filmrsquos wrapup party where we watched the action thrillerrsquos making If the teaser was actionpacked the film promises much moremdashtanks a helicopter some cars being blown up all of which Jordan has in surplus supplies The countryrsquos military has helped the Royal Film Commission of Jordan maintain replicas and real weaponry from as far as World War I For the Indian audience Zafar and Bhagnani have found untapped locations What helps is the seamless functioning since the locals have an undying love for Hindi moviesWe experienced it firsthand as we headed to Aqaba Jordanrsquos coastal city on our last day of the visit Aqaba is marked by a strange confluence to its south is Saudi Arabia to its west Egypt and not too far away is Israel As we had coffee at a waterfront the owners played the song Bole chudiyaan for usEvading talk of how the region has been a hotbed of activity in recent times they discussed how they canrsquot get enough of Bollywood A shopkeeper at Petra which is barely a twohour ride from Aqaba even offered us a few freebies since we come from the land of Kareena Kapoor Khan making us realise that Bollywood is bigger than we think