12 years of Kick: RARE pictures, UNTOLD anecdotes from Sajid Nadiadwala's blockbuster - Salman Khan's childhood pictures were studied and animators COPIED his comic nuances, Randeep Hooda needed 27 takes for his first shot and ZERO retakes later…

Recently, Salman Khan created a storm with his tweet about the happenings in the country. Interestingly, 14 years ago, another tweet by the superstar changed the course of several lives. It was through this tweet that he announced Sajid Nadiadwala’s directorial debut with Kick (2014). This is when he announced that Sajid Nadiadwala will turn director with Kick. The action entertainer was a blockbuster at the box office and one of the biggest box office successes for a debutant director. The film is remembered not just for providing wholesome entertainment but also because the makers released a special coffee table book ‘Kick: A Karizmatic Journey’. Launched a few months after the film’s release, it consists of rare BTS images and fascinating trivia shared by Sajid Nadiadwala and the various HODs. As Kick completed 12 years on July 25, Bollywood Hungama revisited this rare coffee table book to unearth fascinating behind-the-scenes trivia and previously unseen pictures from the blockbuster.

1. Zero VFX, 100% Salman’s swag

Cinematographer Ayananka Bose opened up about the legendary scene involving Salman Khan and the railway train, “The iconic sequence was never a part of the original plan. Mr Khan was supposed to ride across the tracks on the cycle but just before he was to perform the shot, he came with this idea that he would dismount the cycle, push it ahead and just walk across the tracks nonchalantly, without even looking at the train which was a fraction an inch away from him. Sajid sir asked the team to film both the options – first what Salman had suggested and second was the original idea of cycling across the tracks. It sounded impossible to place the camera on the path of an incoming train without the help of VFX for such a sequence. This is when we decided to dig a hole and place it right in the middle of the tracks onto the path of the train. In those failing light conditions, the crew worked frantically, including Sajid sir, who was most worried about the safety of Salman sir. With the failing light conditions, it was a one-shot ‘now or never’ moment.”

He added, “What followed was history. Once the walk across the track was filmed, the original idea was never filmed!”

2. From 27 takes to no retakes:

Sajid Nadiadwala revealed a fascinating anecdote about Randeep Hooda, who had a crucial part in the film, “On the first day of the shoot, we tried doing very different stuff for the role and I was not very satisfied on the monitor. We had about 27 takes until Randeep gave the shot exactly as I was looking for. From that day, we never had any issues and for all subsequent shots, he did not cross the second take.”

3. Apprehensions that were soon put to rest

As for Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character, Sajid Nadiadwala revealed, “He was the last possible choice on anyone’s mind. Many of my HODs did not agree on his casting, but I was very sure.”

4. The evolution of the mask

Suresh Selvarajan, special prop designer, admitted, “We made nearly 300 different masks before settling for this one, and then we did an 8-month-long research on the material. This was the first time the mask was made using 3D print technology in India…we were clear that it would be a first-time-ever or never-before mask.”

5. How Salman turned singer

Sajid Nadiadwala explained how he convinced Salman Khan to sing ‘Hangover’, “We have been hearing him for the last 20 years in a room. So, this was the best chance for the world to hear him too.”

6. London’s bus in Poland

The double-decker bus chase scene is quite memorable. The veteran filmmaker revealed, “We started from London, then Glasgow, followed by Warsaw. Thank God we got permission to shoot in Warsaw. Otherwise, we would have had to shoot in Bangkok or Hong Kong. We put both buses on trucks to transport them from the UK to Poland as they were not allowed to drive on the highway on their own.”

7. Adorable cameos

Kick marked the debut of Sajid Nadiadwala as a director and one of his sons in front of the camera. He said, “My elder brother, Subhan, has made his lucky charm appearances in most of my productions, from his debut appearance in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and thereafter in Heyy Babyy (2007), Housefull (2010) and Housefull 2 (2012). It was only befitting that with Kick, in which his father was making his debut as a director, my younger son, Sufiyan, also made his debut screen appearance with Subhan…their presence added to the sweet taste of Kick’s success, like the ice creams they were enjoying through the filming.”

8. Sajid’s Eureka moment

In one scene, Salman Khan admonishes bystanders for failing to act in the face of injustice. Sajid explained, “There was this particular real-life incident in which a few brave boys had unfortunately lost their lives amidst indifferent onlookers. The incident had disturbed me deeply. A Eureka moment occurred when I was taking a shower in the morning and got an idea to interpret this incident in my own way. I narrated the scene to my wife as I stepped out of the shower and her reaction gave me the positivity that I had hit the right chord.”

9. The girl who left the nation teary-eyed

Diya Chalwad, who played Jhumki, was the soul of the film. Sajid Nadiadwala confessed, “Every time this part of the scene was scheduled to be filmed, I used to look for some excuse to push it back as I was not emotionally prepared to take on this part. Finally, we filmed it towards the end of the schedule, when I matured as a director and was in the right emotional space for it.”

He continued, “A special mention to Diya who could emote and cry effortlessly and made us cry on the set”

10. Salman’s 2011 blockbuster to the rescue

Ayananka Bose also revealed, “I asked (Sajid sir) how he chose me for such a big project, when he could have hired anyone from India or abroad. He answered with such simplicity that while watching the film Bodyguard (2011; also starring Salman Khan), which was shot by multiple DOPs, he came across the song ‘Teri Meri’ that was shot by me. He liked it and decided on that basis. He said his most memorable visual from the sets of the film was “the ever-smiling face of Mr Sajid, be it rain or shine, a quality rare and to be learnt”.

11. How the writer’s block was overcome

Rajat Aroraa, one of the much-loved writers of the film, remarked, “The breakup scene was one of the hardest to crack. Time was running out…I had only the beginning of the scene sorted. Things were a little tense. Sajid sir walked up to me and told me, ‘Don’t worry, Rajat. It’ll work out. Like in life, har cheez mein problem second half mein hi aati hai.  And that’s it. That’s how I got the line, ‘Main tumhare saath boodha hona chahta hoon, tumhari wajah se nahin’!”

12. Sajid’s uncompromised vision

Production designer Rajnish Hedao of Acropolis stated, “Sajid Nadiadwala’s philosophy was that if you were going to show a close-up, make it closer than any close-up has ever been. And if you are going to take a long shot, make it a larger long shot than anyone else has ever done.”

13. Action directors floored by Sajid

The action directors of Kick have spoken highly of the director-producer. ANL Arasu said, “I found the greatest producer in the film industry, Mr Sajid Nadiadwala…he is a great captain. I can proudly say that my grandfather is Sajid Nadiadwala. May God bless him.” Stefan Richter, international action director, stated, “I was given the biggest chance in my career. I will never forget the time with you guys.”

14. The hard work behind the animation sequence

Kick’s animated sequence was lovely and set the mood. Viral Thakkar, VFX Supervisor, Pixion, opened up on what lengths they had to go, “We used various references of Salman sir’s childhood and teen pictures from the internet and carefully designed the characters. The idea was not to make it look too caricature-type. We had a task in front of us with the image he carries globally. The audience loves him. We had to make him look very appealing and lovable.”

He continued, “We went through various visual references from Salman sir’s previous films on the way he performs his comic scenes. He has his own style and the task we had in hand, as far as animation was concerned, was to capture his nuances. At one point, we had to make our animators perform like him in our office just to make sure they got the animation right.”

15. The untold story behind the car

The vehicle driven by Salman Khan at the beginning of the film was a cross between a car and a motorcycle. Deepak More, DC Motors, admitted, “Despite an intensive attempt to source a pristine VW Beetle, we couldn’t find one decent one in the whole country. Hence, we were forced to follow a process that is only done when prototyping elaborate programmes for auto manufacturers. We had to build a 3D data of the VW Beetle…”