What’s a good ol’ Bollywood actioner without a gunfight or three? Indeed, the story of how Hindi cinema has depicted arms and armaments is as interesting as the century-plus history of Bollywood itself. The long-barrel revolvers and 303 rifles have been around for decades – see the posters of Dev Anand’s CID or of Sholay, for example – but it’s only in recent years that Hindi films have started matching Hollywood blockbusters bullet for bullet, so to speak.

From espionage thrillers to cross-border wars and gangland dramas, as the scope of the Bollywood action flick grows exponentially, our films now show an astounding array of guns, artillery, tanks, explosions and more. We go behind the scenes to explore how the industry creates all the firepower that is required to make a big bang at the box office.

Action scenes require the maximum planning and pre-production, because there is much at stake in terms of the safety of people involved. Today, with VFX, things have become simpler than what they were 10-15 years ago. During Ek Tha Tiger (2012), we did stunts physically, with 200 foot wooden towers falling from one building to another. In Kabul Express (2006), every gun that you see is real. Those days guns were easily available, and Afghans got us a truckload of Kalashnikovs. We had an Afghan action director, Abdul Basir Mujahid, who insisted on firing a rocket in our honour despite my telling him not to. In the middle of a shot, he jumped off an SUV and fired it and that shot is there in the movie. We were shocked because the whole place resounded with the noise, but Afghanistan being Afghanistan, no one batted an eyelid!

— Kabir Khan, director

My team and I are particular about authenticity, and when we started prepping in India for Uri: The Surgical Strike, we realized that replicas of original guns weren’t easily available here. There are customs issues and getting the guns may take months. We had a choice between going ahead with the AK-47 replicas available here, or trying something new. Luckily, Serbia had opened up a rebate structure, and getting equipment similar to the choppers, Mirages and guns we needed became easier. However, we also did a little jugaad and the night vision goggles were binoculars with a green light inside from Juhu beach. While shooting in Serbia, we could only afford four stunt people. If you watch carefully, the same people play terrorists and armymen and even come back from the dead to play other characters! — Aditya Dhar, director

The Night Manager was a tricky series because it is the story of an arms dealer. We had to ensure that the arms shown were technically correct and matched the stuff used in modern warfare, apart from being visually appealing. After extensive research, we zeroed in on a wish list. Other than a few assault rifles, not many weapons were readily available for filming. Necessity is the mother of invention. We studied and built prototypes of many guns with our SFX partners and made its impact look cinematically as close to the real ones with ample help from our VFX team.

— Sandeep Modi, director

The 1980s and ’90s saw several dacoit films and those needed rifles and double-barrelled guns. Times have changed and films now require M4 carbines and AK-47s, Glocks and Berettas. Even if gun models are limited in real life and we have to repeat them, the audience wants something new in each film. That’s why we have custom-made guns like those seen in Don 2 and Lucifer. when the trigger is pulled, there is a sound like gunfire, which is the cue for the actor. Muzzle flash is later added via VFX. When we are approached for a film, we give the team an album, from which they can select guns. We also recommend the gun that should be used for a particular era, though sometimes we take cinematic liberty if the gun looks good on screen.

— Vishal Tyagi, SFX supervisor and armourer

Research is an important part of our job, and for Tiger Zinda Hai we had to show Baghdad city, Chinooks and other army choppers. We built the set in Abu Dhabi and since a real Chinook would’ve cost Rs. 30 crore, we created mock-ups. Tubelight had Indo-China war sequences and we had a team that made study models and converted normal cars into tanks. For the upcoming Chandu Champion that shows the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, we required an antiaircraft gun that vibrates. We used a drill machine to get the repetitive movement, while the VFX team added the bullets, and the sound department handled the rest. In the past, we would make a mould of mud and create guns from it; today you can just print a dummy gun from websites and the process is effortless. VFX has also made life easier. For example, we built a chopper for Bade Miyan Chote Miyan without the rotating blade, which will be added through VFX. For blast scenes, we create the smoke, while the fire is added via VFX

— Rajnish Hedao, production designer

While selecting guns, we must be careful because Mumbai police firearms are different from those used by Rapid Action Force or the Army. We meet senior or retired officers who help us with our research. It takes us a long time to prep for car stunts because even if the shot shows a car toppling, we have to ensure people inside are safe. The web series Aar Ya Paar has an archer as the protagonist and we got on board a national archery coach to work with the cast. We created artificial bows and arrows lighter than the real ones, so that actors could handle them easily. Our job begins two-three months before the shoot.

— Swapnil Bhalerao, production designer working with Rohit Shetty for 18 years