Border 2 Director Anurag Singh Discusses the “No Green Screen” Approach and Challenges of Shooting on Real Locations
With Border 2 now captivating audiences in cinemas, the film’s breathtaking action sequences and realistic visuals have become major talking points. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, director Anurag Singh and producer Bhushan Kumar delved into the immense logistical and creative challenges of shooting large-scale war scenes without relying on green screens, opting instead for real locations and practical effects.
Director Anurag Singh revealed that one of the most demanding aspects of filming Border 2 was the decision to shoot entirely on real locations rather than in controlled studio environments. The team filmed in challenging terrains such as Dehradun and Jhansi, often braving extreme weather conditions with massive crews and complex setups.“
Shoot-wise, the most challenging parts were the action sequences because the scale increases dramatically,” said Singh. “Your three–four-person crew becomes a 400–500-person unit. When you’re shooting on real locations like Dehradun or Jhansi, you’re dealing with freezing cold or unbearable heat, and you have to shoot action sequences from morning till evening.”
According to Singh, war sequences present a unique challenge that goes far beyond typical action choreography. Coordinating explosive stunts, crowd movements, and actor positioning requires a high level of precision, leaving minimal room for error.“ There are so many elements in action. Everything has to come together perfectly, like clockwork, for a single shot to work,”
Singh explained. “You’re dealing with explosions — you need to figure out where to place the explosives, how the actors will react, how far they need to be, and how much fire will come out. And it’s not just two people fighting; there are 500 people running around behind them, firing guns, and creating chaos. Shooting action at that scale is incredibly difficult.”
While the film prioritizes realism, some elements — like aerial combat — had to rely on visual effects. Singh acknowledged that creating believable fighter plane sequences required careful integration of VFX to maintain the film’s sense of authenticity.
The second tricky part was dealing with things we can’t practically recreate,” Singh said. “For instance, fighter planes obviously had to be done using VFX. You don’t have real planes available to fly and shoot. So, how do you bring that up to a certain level of realism and translate it onscreen? These were all very challenging aspects of production.”
