Akshay Kumar recalls police chase with Ahmed Khan during 'Aflatoon' shoot
Synopsis
Long before permits and production managers, Akshay Kumar and director Ahmed Khan were literally running from watchmen and police to get their shots. The guerrilla filmmaking story behind the 1997 'Aflatoon' title track — where a fan's car became an impromptu prop — is a rare candid window into how Bollywood used to hustle.
Key Takeaways
Akshay Kumar revealed he and director Ahmed Khan were chased by police and security guards multiple times during early song shoots in Mumbai .
The title track of the 1997 film 'Aflatoon' featured an unplanned car belonging to a fan who gave Akshay permission to dance on it.
A watchman chasing the crew was captured on camera and retained in the final song cut.
Police chased the duo off the Sea Rock location during one such shoot.
Their partnership began with 'Ye Dillagi' and 'Suhaag' and continues with the upcoming 'Welcome To The Jungle' .
Akshay Kumar has opened up about the adventurous early days of his collaboration with director Ahmed Khan, revealing that the two were chased by security and police on multiple occasions while shooting songs without official permissions in Mumbai. The anecdote surfaced ahead of the release of their latest collaboration, 'Welcome To The Jungle'.
The 'Aflatoon' Car Incident
Recounting a memorable moment from the title track of his 1997 drama 'Aflatoon', Akshay described how a passing car ended up in the song entirely by chance. 'If you watch the song Aflatoon, that car was not rented. It was just passing by. The owner of the car was a fan of mine. I asked him, ‘Can I dance on your car for five minutes?’ He said, ‘Go ahead.’ So we danced on it. Like this, in many places, we even got chased away,' the actor said.
Watchmen and Police on Their Heels
Akshay further recalled how the duo would sneak into buildings to film sequences, only to be confronted by security staff. Notably, one such confrontation was captured on camera and retained in the final cut of the song. 'We would go inside buildings and start shooting, and then the watchman would come running. That shot is actually there in the song; we have kept it — the watchman is running towards us. He came to scold us and chase us away... On Sea Rock as well, the police chased us out. There are many like this,' he said.
A Long-Standing Creative Partnership
The Akshay–Ahmed Khan association dates back to films like 'Ye Dillagi' and 'Suhaag' in the mid-1990s, making theirs one of Bollywood's longer-running actor-director partnerships. Their guerrilla-style approach to filming, it appears, was a defining feature of those early years — born as much from necessity as from creative instinct.
About 'Welcome To The Jungle'
'Welcome To The Jungle' features one of Hindi cinema's largest ensemble casts, including Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Raveena Tandon, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Johnny Lever, Aftab Shivdasani, Lara Dutta, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, Daler Mehndi, Urvashi Rautela, and the late Pankaj Dheer, among many others. The film is presented by AA Nadiadwala and Star Studio18 in association with Cape of Good Films and Seeta Films, produced under the Base Industries Group and Seeta Films banner. As the film's release approaches, Akshay's candid behind-the-scenes stories are likely to keep audience curiosity at a peak.
Point of View
But it also underlines how dramatically Bollywood's production culture has shifted. The informal, permission-free shoots that defined the 1990s would be near-impossible today given location permits, insurance requirements, and social media scrutiny. That Akshay and Ahmed Khan built a lasting creative partnership out of that chaotic era — and are now headlining one of Hindi cinema's largest ensemble productions — says something about the staying power of instinct over infrastructure. Whether 'Welcome To The Jungle' can match the nostalgia its makers are clearly banking on remains the real question.
NationPress
25 Jun 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the police chase story Akshay Kumar shared about Ahmed Khan?
Akshay Kumar recalled that he and director Ahmed Khan were chased by police and security guards on several occasions while filming songs without official permissions in Mumbai during the 1990s. One notable incident involved the 1997 film 'Aflatoon', where a fan allowed Akshay to dance on his passing car, and a watchman chasing the crew was captured on film and kept in the final song.
Which films did Akshay Kumar and Ahmed Khan first collaborate on?
Akshay Kumar and Ahmed Khan's association began with 'Ye Dillagi' and 'Suhaag' in the mid-1990s. They have since collaborated on multiple projects, with 'Welcome To The Jungle' being their latest.
What is 'Welcome To The Jungle' and who is in it?
'Welcome To The Jungle' is a Bollywood film directed by Ahmed Khan and starring Akshay Kumar alongside a massive ensemble cast including Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Raveena Tandon, Disha Patani, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, and many others. It is produced by Base Industries Group and Seeta Films, presented by AA Nadiadwala and Star Studio18.
What happened during the filming of the 'Aflatoon' title track?
During the shoot of the 'Aflatoon' title song in 1997, the car featured in the video was not a rented prop — it belonged to a fan who happened to be passing by and gave Akshay permission to dance on it. The crew also filmed inside a building without permission, and a watchman running towards them to chase them away was kept in the final cut of the song.
Where did police chase Akshay Kumar and Ahmed Khan during a shoot?
According to Akshay Kumar, one such police confrontation took place at Sea Rock in Mumbai, where the crew was filming without clearance and was chased off the location by police.
