Satya Dev remembers bombs, people's warmth from his Afghan shoot

On a day when the world was plunged into a state of nervous anticipation by the news of the political developments in Afghanistan, Telugu actor Satya Dev's music video 'Habib', shot in that troubled country when the hostilities hadn't yet gone out of control, was released here on Sunday.

The track, which traces the journey of a father looking for his son, was shot in 2017 in Afghanistan, but its release had been delayed. Reminiscing about it, the actor talked about the excitement to be in Afghanistan and the dangers around him.

The track has been sung in Pashto by the Canada-based Afghan singer Qais Ulfat and the video shot by Jennifer Alphonse.

"It was a terrific experience in both ways," Satya said in an interview with IANS. "One being that there was civil unrest happening at that time but our producers were from Afghanistan and it helped us in many ways. I thoroughly enjoyed because Afghan people love Indians and our films. They are warm and nice people and they really supported us when the shooting was on. But at the same time there was this threat lurking in Kabul. There were bombings when we were in Afghanistan," the actor recalled.

The song was shot in Kabul and the Panjashir Valley in north-central Afghanistan near the Hindukush over 30 days, during which time there twin bombings took place in close proximity to the country's National Assembly.

"The day before we were shooting there, the bombings took place. We were so close to so many things. Our entire 30-day stay in Afghanistan was amazing. We experienced so much in that I can just go on about it," Satya said.

The actor, who will shortly make his Hindi debut with 'Ram Setu', will also be seen in the Telugu films 'Skylab' and 'Godse'.

Tags: Cinema, Showbiz