Salman Khan the actor recently courted controversy after being mistaken for a troublemaker by none other than the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The incident occurred when the actor was shooting a gun chase in Zakho (on the Syria-Iraq-Turkey border), considered to be a volatile area, for Kabir Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger.
A source from the unit claims that while shooting the action sequences, the film’s unit were told to stay put for a couple of hours by the NATO forces.
The official spokesperson of the film confirms, “Salman, along with 40 crew members, came under the radar of the NATO forces in the area while shooting a gun chase and some firing sequences for the film. Katrina Kaif, who will be seen with Salman after four years, was not present during this sequence.”
The espionage thriller was shot around Mardin and Zakho. The spokesperson adds, “Zakho is a sensitive zone. While shooting the action sequence, snipers picked up the sound (of gunshots) as their forces had a base on a hilltop nearby. Four army helicopters were sent and a red alert was declared. There was so much confusion that the unit had to lie on the ground for hours until local authorities were called to let NATO know that it was just a film shoot.”
Kabir Khan is not new to shooting in troubled locations. The director’s debut film Kabul Express (2006), which featured John Abraham and Arshad Warsi, was shot extensively in Kabul, Afghanistan, after the Taliban’s regime ended. The film’s cast and crew were reportedly sent death threats by the Taliban, but the Afghan government provided tight security to enable filming.