John Abraham, Jackie Shroff take RAW to the Valley

John Abraham, who plays a secret agent and sports 18 different looks as he goes about his mission in Robbie Grewal’s espionage thriller, 'RAW: Romeo Akbar Walter', will head to Kashmir on August 16 for a 10-day schedule across Gulmarg and Srinagar during which they will shoot a lot of action sequences. The makers have arranged for tight security for the cast and crew.Leading lady Mouni Roy won’t be making the trip to the Valley but Jackie Shroff, who plays the RAW chief, will be present.

Robbie, who is already there, points out that they have hired local actors besides technicians because taking actors from Mumbai won’t give the portions the required vibe. “Even the dress dada (costume designer) is from Kashmir. We are recreating the Valley of the '70s for our film,” added the excited director.
Speaking on their choice of location, Vanessa Walia, who is producing the film with Dheeraj Wadhwan, Ajay Kapoor and Robbie, explained that the story required them to film at real locations. “We couldn’t shoot in Pakistan, so we recreated some of the heritage buildings in Gujarat. But Srinagar can’t be replicated in any part of the world, be it Switzerland or Shimla, as it has a unique landscape and feel. It’s also a troubled city but from day one, we knew we would have to shoot in Kashmir for the look Robbie wanted for the film,” she said.
The Gulmarg shoot is scheduled to wrap up in two days, after which the team will move to Srinagar. According to Bunty Walia, who is a consultant on the film, the Director General of Police, Kashmir, has assured him that the law and order situation is normal. “They told me that Vidhu Vinod Chopra has also been shooting there and there’s nothing to worry about. They have assured us security because John and Jackie have a huge fan following and we didn’t want an obstruction in the shoot,” he said.
Earlier speaking to Mirror (August 3) John had pointed out that he had filmed Kabul Express in Afghanistan just after the fall of the Taliban and now was taking RAW to Kashmir because “a film set can’t replicate what you feel when you are in danger zone”.
Robbie’s father was in the armed forces and had served in Kashmir before he was born. “When I grew up, I visited the Valley and have shot there earlier. The people are warm and understand that when film units come here, people get work,” he said.