"Story had to be told"; Akshaye Khanna on State of Siege Temple Attack: What inspired Zee5 flick [Exclusive]

State of Siege: Temple Attack, the Zee5 original movie that marked the debut of Bollywood star Akshaye Khanna was released on July 9. Receiving mixed to positive reviews, the film is now trending on the Zee5 platform, and audiences are unanimously praising Akshaye Khanna for portraying the role of an NSG commando with perfection on screen. 

Akshaye Khanna talks about OTT debut

Akshaye Khanna is widely considered the most underrated actor in Bollywood. Even after portraying some mind-blowing characters in his career, no Bollywood filmmaker has ever tried or succeeded in extracting his potential to the fullest post-2010, the only exception being Section 375. 

In an exclusive interaction with International Business Times, Khanna shared his excitement about the State of Siege: Temple Attack and his OTT debut. 

"I was waiting for the perfect story to set foot in the world of web entertainment. After being approached by Abhimanyu for a project like the State of Siege: Temple Attack, I immediately knew that my search for the perfect web film had come to an end. It is based on a real story that had the country in shackles. It wasn't similar to the kind of work that I have done before. When I read more about the incident and about the role of NSG commanders while working on the film, I was really moved. I feel this is a story that needs to be told as it deserves recognition and space beyond the newspapers and textbooks," said Khanna. 

Director and producer talks about State of Siege: Temple Attack

State of Siege: Temple Attack is based on the Akshardham Temple attack that claimed the lives of 30 people. In an exclusive talk, director Ken Ghosh revealed why he decided to make a movie with the works of National Security Guards (NSG) as the backdrop. 

"This has been a dream genre for me to film. My father being a naval officer I grew up in awe of the armed forces, which inspired me to work on a story that showcases the role of the nation's heroes - NSG commandos who don't think twice before risking their lives for the people of this country. I am truly excited for the release of the film as this is our way of paying tribute to the lionhearts, bringing to light an aspect of the story that deserves to be known," said Ghosh. 

Producer Abhimanyu Singh of Contiloe Pictures talked about the challenges he faced while shooting this movie during pandemic times. Singh made it clear that they completed the shooting without any single Covid positive case, as they filmed State of Siege by following all safety protocols. 

"We didn't suffer any real covid scares. We went producing this for over four months across states without a single case as we took care of covid protocols extremely seriously and we were able to finish the shooting on time. We started filming this at the end of November and we were able to finish shooting at the beginning of March. It was extremely challenging because we were shooting the snow, and the winter. It was obviously challenging but our team successfully completed the filming," added Singh. 

Singh also hinted that a third installment in the State of Siege franchise will be made once the pandemic situation improves. 

"We are thinking about it but obviously there are key challenges owing to the pandemic. We would 100 percent want to produce a third season but it all depends on how the covid scenario plays out. We will have to just see how the situation is for everyone," concluded Singh.