Did you know Ali Fazal learned dirt biking for 'Kandahar?

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 20 : Acting is a challenge enough for actors when undertaking new roles. Many a time, they learn different and unique things to get into the skin of the character. Actor Ali Fazal had to learn dirt biking for the Hollywood film 'Kandahar'.
On learning the new skill set, Ali said, "So basically dirt biking has clearly become a very loved passion in my life. Also surprisingly dissipating me from regular biking on the busy roads of our cities. But you know you'll never be as good as you wanna be because when you're working with such an amazing stunt team on a film like Kandahar, where everything is totally measured and state-of-the-art, even though the bike was a very simple bike, deliberately chose a very non pricey bike like a KTM."
He recalled, "I mean, we chose a KTM as opposed to one of those cool Ducati or sports bikes, the Hayabusa that people love watching. But this was because we actually had to do these stunts. I had to do these stunts in the desert. And we couldn't fake a lot of this stuff. So I learned about dirt biking. I landed up 25 days before shoot and started learning these tricks. Of course, first learning how to just ride plainly on the sand and then, doing different kinds of skids and the breaks, different kinds of turns. And ultimately, no matter what stunts you pull off, you have to make the character come alive. There's body language and everything. So me and my stunt double, we had to work together all the time because there were some shots like riding on top of a very steep Cliff which has only rocks, those things I never did."
This type of riding comprises lightweight motorcycles specially designed for the unpaved rough surfaces. Dirt bike riders mostly ride on two surfaces -- motocross tracks and offroad trails.
Written by Mitchell LaFortune, 'Kandahar' follows the story of an undercover CIA operative, Tom Harris (Gerard Butler), taking viewers on an adrenaline-fueled journey deep into a hostile territory in Afghanistan. When an intelligence leak exposes his identity and mission, he must navigate through the perilous obstacles alongside his Afghan translator Mo (Navid Negahban), to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding the elite special forces unit tasked with hunting them down.
Ali plays the role of Kahil in the movie who goes up against Tom Harris in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. The movie draws inspiration from true events from the life of a former military intelligence officer.
'Kandahar' is currently streaming on Prime Video.