‘Working with Salman was like going to film school’: 7 Dogs directors Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah

7 Dogs is an action thriller with a $40 million budget. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, it combines Arab and Hollywood action.

Salman Khan announced that the highly anticipated international action thriller 7 Dogs which will hit theaters in India on August 21. The Moroccan-Belgian filmmaking duo, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, spoke to news agency PTI about their experience of working with the superstar. They said that the Indian superstar brought his instinctive understanding of cinema to the project and made even brief moments on screen memorable.

Salman Khan in a still from Saudi Arabia movie 7 Dogs.

What the directors said

In the film, Salman and fellow Indian star Sanjay Dutt have pivotal roles, besides renowned Italian actor Monica Bellucci and Hollywood's Giancarlo Esposito. Adil said Salman brought the kind of effortless charisma to the sets, reminding him of Hollywood star Will Smith, the lead actor of "Bad Boys" film franchise.

"There's a lot of charisma. You get the same feeling when Will Smith is on set. It's like, 'Oh, that's what a superstar looks like'. From the moment you put the camera on him, something magical happens," said Adil.

"He knows right away what the scene is. And he will do it perfectly. And then he will create, he will give you so much more. And that is like going to film school. You're really witnessing cinema happening before your eyes," he said.

Bilall said the superstar's contribution went beyond the screenplay as he often came up with one-liners during the shoot.

"During editing, when I was looking at the takes, there was always something new that he put in that I didn't even realize when I was on set. He just makes a scene memorable. Even if it's just a short moment, he creates something that is pure cinema," he added.

7 Dogs sets a new benchmark for Arab cinema

The film has been mounted on an unusually large scale for an Arab-language production. According to GQ Middle East, the film's reported budget is nearly $40 million and is among the most expensive films to come out of the Arab region. Much of the production was filmed at Al-Hosn Big Time Studios in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the makers putting a strong focus on practical action, stunts and real explosions.

The biggest claim to fame, however, is a sequence that has earned 7 Dogs a place in the Guinness World Records. The film features what has been recognised as the largest film stunt explosion, with the blast equivalent to 170.7 tonnes of TNT. The feat surpassed the previous record associated with the James Bond films Spectre and No Time to Die.

About the film

International Interpol agent Khalid Al-Azzazi succeeds in apprehending Ghali Abu Dawood, a key figure in the secret worldwide crime syndicate nicknamed 7 Dogs. However, when the syndicate appears a year later dealing in a new deadly drug called Pink Lady in the Middle East, Khalid finds himself working alongside the only person who understands the inner workings of the syndicate. Their covert operation spans through several cities around the world.