Bollywood’s action-packed blockbusters often feature heroes performing gravity-defying kicks, daring leaps from buildings, and high-speed chases. Yet behind every on-screen daredevil moment lies the unseen hero of cinema, the stunt choreographer. These experts design and coordinate the fights, falls, and explosions that keep audiences on the edge of their seats. From 2010 to 2025, Bollywood’s stunt choreography has evolved dramatically, blending traditional “dishoom-dishoom” brawls with sophisticated martial arts, advanced wire rigs, and cutting-edge visual effects.
This period saw Indian action filmmaking grow from modest fight scenes to international-scale action set pieces rivaling Hollywood, all while striving to keep performers safe. In this deep dive, we explore how Bollywood’s stunt choreography transformed over the years, highlight key stunt directors and their memorable action scenes in films like War, Pathaan, Shershaah, Baaghi, and more, and shed light on the risks and behind-the-scenes efforts that often go unrecognized.
Contents
- The Landscape of Bollywood Action Circa 2010
- Mid-2010s: Laying the Groundwork for Change
- High-Octane Showdowns: 2016–2020
- Pushing the Envelope: 2021–2025 and Beyond
- Comparing Action Choreography Across Films (2010–2025)
- Behind the Scenes: Risk, Safety, and the Unsung Professionals
- Bollywood vs. Hollywood vs. South: A Broader Context
- Celebrating the Journey of Stunt Choreography (2010–2025)
The Landscape of Bollywood Action Circa 2010
In the early 2010s, Bollywood action was at a crossroads of old and new. Traditional fight scenes, where a solitary hero single-handedly vanquishes gangs of villains, were still common. These scenes, often choreographed by veteran “fight masters,” relied on raw stunt work and melodramatic flair rather than realism. Many films featured hand-to-hand combat with dramatic sound effects and slow-motion shots to amplify impact. Safety measures were minimal by modern standards; earlier decades of Indian cinema had seen stunt performers work under risky conditions, sometimes without insurance or proper equipment. Around 2010, however, fresh influences were beginning to seep in.
South Indian cinema’s penchant for gravity-defying stunts and flamboyant action was influencing Bollywood through popular remakes. For instance, Salman Khan’s Wanted (2009) and Rowdy Rathore (2012), remakes of Telugu and Tamil hits, introduced exaggerated but crowd-pleasing action sequences to Hindi audiences. Meanwhile, Hollywood’s slick action thrillers started setting new benchmarks for Indian filmmakers. Big-budget Bollywood productions began to experiment with hiring international stunt teams and incorporating martial arts disciplines. The groundwork for change was being laid: audiences were ready for more sophisticated action, and producers were willing to invest in better choreography and technology to deliver it.
Mid-2010s: Laying the Groundwork for Change
By the mid-2010s, Bollywood was actively raising its action game. A new generation of action stars and choreographers emerged, emphasizing authentic combat skills and fitness. Films in this period started showcasing martial arts and close-quarter combat in a way Hindi cinema hadn’t seen before. A prime example is Baaghi (2016), where actor Tiger Shroff, a trained martial artist, performed fluid kung-fu style fights. The action in Baaghi was designed by a mix of talent: Bollywood’s own action duo Javed-Eijaz and foreign experts like Thai stunt coordinator Kecha Khamphakdee. The production also brought on Grandmaster Shifuji Shaurya Bharadwaj, an Indian combat trainer, as a consultant to infuse realistic close-combat techniques.
Thanks to such collaboration, the film’s fights felt fresh; they featured Kalaripayattu, an ancient Indian martial art, along with MMA and East Asian fighting styles. Tiger Shroff reportedly trained in six different martial arts, including Kalaripayattu, Silat (Indonesian), Krav Maga (Israeli), and Jeet Kune Do to prepare for the role, highlighting the era’s new focus on actor training and technique. The result was thrilling hand-to-hand sequences where every punch and kick was executed with real athleticism and minimal wire assistance. This focus on genuine martial prowess was a shift from the more exaggerated brawls of the past.
Tiger Shroff undergoing martial arts training for Baaghi (2016). Actors often train extensively in various fighting styles to perform choreographed combat scenes convincingly. The mid-2010s saw a resurgence of martial arts in Bollywood action, emphasizing agility and technique.
Concurrently, Indian filmmakers started looking outward for expertise in big action set pieces. Yash Raj Films’ Dhoom 3 (2013) featured high-speed bike chases and acrobatics that hinted at international stunt coordination. Likewise, Bang Bang! (2014), a remake of the Hollywood film Knight and Day, employed foreign stunt teams to execute its parkour sequences and car stunts. These collaborations brought a new level of professionalism and equipment (like better harnesses and crash rigs) into Bollywood’s toolkit. Indian stunt directors were also upping their game, veterans like Sham Kaushal and Allan Amin adapted by integrating new techniques and safety protocols, while younger choreographers like Parvez Shaikh gained prominence for their innovative work. By 2015, audiences had witnessed a broad spectrum of action: from Akshay Kumar performing realistic close-combat in Baby (2015) to Ajay Devgn’s gravity-defying car stunts in the Singham series, which became famous for flipping SUVs in the air (a signature style inspired by director Rohit Shetty’s flair for vehicular mayhem).
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This period also marked the beginning of a serious conversation about safety and recognition for stunt professionals. The tragic death of two actors during a stunt for a Kannada film in 2016 sent shockwaves through the industry, prompting Bollywood stunt directors to speak out about the need for stringent safety measures. Productions became more vigilant: having ambulances and medical staff on set during dangerous scenes started to become standard practice. In a landmark move, 2016 saw the introduction of a National Film Award category for Best Stunt Choreography, finally giving India’s action directors formal recognition on par with cinematographers and musicians. The same year, superstar Akshay Kumar, known for performing his own stunts, funded India’s first insurance scheme for film stunt artists, providing coverage for hundreds of stuntmen and stuntwomen. This was a pivotal moment that acknowledged stunt performers as true heroes who deserved protection and respect.
High-Octane Showdowns: 2016–2020
The late 2010s became a golden era of high-octane Bollywood action, with filmmakers mounting ever more elaborate sequences. A key trend was international collaboration, bringing in Hollywood stunt coordinators and global experts to design action that could wow worldwide audiences. Nowhere was this more evident than in the making of War (2019), one of Bollywood’s most ambitious action spectacles. The film’s director Siddharth Anand pulled out all the stops: he roped in four renowned action directors from different parts of the globe, Paul Jennings (UK), Franz Spilhaus (South Africa), SeaYoung Oh (South Korea), and India’s own Parvez Shaikh, to jointly choreograph the film’s stunning set pieces.
They spent over a year planning and pre-visualizing War’s action scenes, an unprecedented amount of time for an Indian film. The effort paid off on screen with seven distinct action sequences, each with its own flavor. Viewers were treated to a gritty hand-to-hand combat in narrow alleys, a high-speed motorcycle chase along mountain roads, an intense aerial fight on a cargo plane, and even a showdown on the Arctic ice. This variety of settings and styles in one film was unheard of in earlier Bollywood. The lavish budget allowed for real military hardware and cutting-edge gadgets, for instance, War features fighter jets and high-end sports bikes, and the stunt work was executed with slick, Hollywood-esque finesse.
It was clear that Bollywood had arrived on the global action stage; as Anand proudly noted, they wanted Indian audiences to feel that an Indian film delivered what a big-budget Hollywood action movie could. Indeed, War’s scale and polish made it a benchmark, proving that with the right team, Indian cinema could match international standards in action choreography.
Another film that exemplified this “go big or go home” philosophy was Tiger Zinda Hai (2017). This spy thriller, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, brought on Tom Struthers, a veteran stunt coordinator known for The Dark Knight and Inception, to supervise its action sequences. Struthers’ brief was to create action that was “larger than life and yet realistic,” blending blockbuster flair with believable combat. The production went to Abu Dhabi to film large-scale battle scenes featuring military choppers, armoured vehicles, and heavy artillery. Under Struthers’ coordination, the team staged massive explosions, blowing up over a dozen vehicles (including a 40-tonne truck) for authentic effect. Sequences like a ferocious gunfight against terrorist forces and a daring evacuation amidst gunfire were choreographed with an attention to detail that made them as credible as they were spectacular. Struthers even commented that the level of action in this Bollywood film was on par with any Hollywood project he had worked on. This was a huge endorsement of how far Indian stunt teams had come.
While these big-budget extravaganzas grabbed headlines, the late 2010s also saw strides in tactical combat realism. Filmmakers like Neeraj Pandey and Aditya Dhar leaned into authenticity for their action thrillers. Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), for instance, dramatized a military operation with painstaking realism, the actors underwent military bootcamp training to portray special forces soldiers, and the close-quarters battle scenes were choreographed to mimic real combat tactics (quick room entries, silent knife takedowns, night-vision goggle usage). Similarly, Baby (2015) and Naam Shabana (2017) featured raw, intense fights without over-the-top acrobatics. These films might not have had the explosiveness of War or Tiger Zinda Hai, but they earned praise for making fights feel grounded and credible. The coexistence of both approaches, the larger-than-life set pieces and the grounded realistic fights, demonstrated the widening range of Bollywood stunt choreography by 2020. Indian action cinema was now confident enough to dabble in all flavors, from mass-appeal heroics to niche realism.
Pushing the Envelope: 2021–2025 and Beyond
As the new decade began, Bollywood continued to push the envelope, often combining the lessons of the past decade, marrying realism with spectacle. Two films in particular showcase the diverging yet complementary directions of action choreography in the 2020s: Shershaah (2021) and Pathaan (2023).
Shershaah, a biographical war drama, chose the path of gritty realism. Based on the life of Captain Vikram Batra and the Kargil War, it couldn’t rely on fanciful stunt work; instead, the action had to feel like actual combat in the mountains. The stunt choreography team, led by action directors Stefan Richter, Steve A. (Steven Arocah), and Sunil Rodrigues, coordinated closely with military consultants to achieve authenticity. Battle sequences were shot on real hilly terrain, subjecting the cast and crew to tough outdoor conditions just like soldiers. The filmmakers tried to keep the action “as raw and real as we could,” as star Sidharth Malhotra noted. Trench warfare, sniper firefights, and close combat in rocky outposts were all choreographed with an emphasis on military tactics, for example, soldiers taking cover and advancing strategically rather than charging heroically in the open.
To capture the chaos of war without endangering actors, VFX was judiciously used: muzzle flashes, dust bursts, and explosion effects were added digitally to amplify the battlefield atmosphere. However, the core of each scene was practical, actors physically reacted to timed detonations and stunt performers executed careful falls to simulate getting hit. The result was an action experience far from the stylized Bollywood norm: viewers felt the intensity of mountain warfare, complete with the claustrophobia of bunker shootouts and the peril of scaling cliff faces under fire. Shershaah earned praise for these realistic action scenes, which stood as a tribute to the real-life heroes it depicted. It also highlighted how far stunt choreography for war films in India had come, leveraging modern techniques to recreate historic battles faithfully.
Actors on the set of Shershaah (2021) preparing to film a battle scene on location in the Himalayan foothills. Real locations, practical effects, and guidance from army experts helped create authentic war sequences. The action was kept gritty and “raw” to honor true combat conditions.
On the other end of the spectrum lies Pathaan (2023), a glossy spy action-thriller that became a nationwide sensation. Pathaan embraced the full arsenal of modern stunt choreography: extensive wirework, high-tech props, and heavy VFX integration to deliver jaw-dropping sequences. The film’s action was orchestrated in part by Casey O’Neill, a Hollywood stunt coordinator known for working on Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible films, alongside Craig Macrae and Bollywood’s Sunil Rodrigues. Together, they crafted set pieces that had audiences cheering for their sheer audacity. One standout is the high-altitude fight on an airborne cargo plane: the hero (Shah Rukh Khan) and villain (John Abraham) battle atop a plane as it plummets, trading blows amidst wind turbulence. This sequence combined on-set stunt wire-work (actors suspended on rigs to simulate zero-gravity punches) with extensive CGI backgrounds of the sky and a falling aircraft.
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Another memorable scene is the chase across a frozen Siberian lake, where Pathaan rides a motoryak (ice motorcycle) in pursuit of the antagonist. The production actually shot on a real frozen lake in Siberia for portions of this scene, braving sub-zero temperatures to capture authentic footage. Stunt drivers executed drifts and mid-chase combat on ice, while O’Neill’s team later enhanced the thrills with visual effects, such as a military helicopter crashing into the icy lake. The film even features a downtown city chase in Dubai with cars and a jetpack, and a sequence where Pathaan uses a wingsuit to glide between skyscrapers. These scenes heavily relied on wire rigs (to hoist the actors for simulated flight) and green-screen composites of cityscapes. The emphasis was on delivering spectacle: improbable, larger-than-life stunts made believable by a blend of practical effort and digital magic.
Shah Rukh Khan filming a high-altitude stunt for Pathaan (2023) using a wire harness. Modern Bollywood productions extensively use wirework and rigging to execute seemingly impossible feats safely, from mid-air fights to huge leaps. International stunt experts like Casey O’Neill have introduced advanced rigging techniques to Bollywood, as seen in this behind-the-scenes moment.
What sets the 2020s apart is how these extremes, raw realism and over-the-top fantasy, coexist and even overlap. Pathaan, despite its outrageous moments, still paid attention to details like realistic military gear and fighting styles for its soldier characters, grounding some scenes in tactical authenticity. Conversely, even a serious film like Shershaah used VFX to enhance explosions for cinematic impact. This era has proven that Bollywood can excel at both ends of the action spectrum. The common factor is that behind each of these films, there’s meticulous planning by stunt teams and a willingness to innovate with technology.
Comparing Action Choreography Across Films (2010–2025)
To appreciate the evolution in Bollywood’s stunt choreography, it’s helpful to compare some of the era’s defining action films and their traits side by side:
| Film (Year) | Stunt Choreographers | Signature Style & Techniques | Memorable Action Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baaghi (2016) | Kecha Khamphakdee (Thailand), Javed-Eijaz, Consultant: Shifuji | Martial arts–centric combat; minimal weapons, hand-to-hand fights with Kalari, kung fu, etc. | Tiger Shroff’s one-vs-many dojo fight and the final battle take place through a multi-level building, showcasing flips and kicks. |
| Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) | Tom Struthers (Hollywood), Keir Beck, Anal Arasu (India) | Large-scale military action with realistic gunplay, explosions, and vehicle stunts. | Desert convoy ambush in Abu Dhabi, featuring choppers, machine guns, and a massive explosion blowing up a 40-ton truck. |
| War (2019) | Paul Jennings (UK), Franz Spilhaus (SA), SeaYoung Oh (Korea), Parvez Shaikh (India) | High-octane spy action; mix of parkour, vehicle chases, aerial stunts. Extensive wirework and global styles fused together. | The motorcycle chase on winding mountain roads and the Arctic base fight, Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff duel on ice amid a crashing aircraft. |
| Shershaah (2021) | Stefan Richter, Steve Arocah, Sunil Rodrigues | Tactical combat realism; infantry warfare, minimal wire-work. On-location shooting to replicate harsh battle conditions. | Cliffside gunfight during the Kargil battle, soldiers engage enemies from behind rocky cover, culminating in hand-to-hand combat on a mountaintop bunker. |
| Pathaan (2023) | Casey O’Neill (USA), Craig Macrae, Sunil Rodrigues | Glossy spy thriller action; heavy VFX-assisted stunts. Wire-fu meets modern tech (jetpacks, wingsuits, drones). | The mid-air plane combat, an all-out brawl on a nosediving cargo plane, where gravity shifts as the plane free-falls, ending with characters leaping to safety as the craft explodes. |
Table: A comparison of notable Bollywood action films (2016–2023) and their stunt choreography traits, illustrating the industry’s expanding toolkit, from pure martial arts to big-budget VFX spectacles.
This comparison shows how each film brought something unique: Baaghi revived martial arts authenticity, Tiger Zinda Hai blended Hollywood-scale explosions with Indian flair, War combined international expertise for stylish thrills, Shershaah prioritized realism, and Pathaan delivered extravagant fantasy. Together, they mark the milestones of Bollywood’s action evolution.
Behind the Scenes: Risk, Safety, and the Unsung Professionals
No discussion of stunt choreography is complete without acknowledging the tremendous risks involved and the measures taken to mitigate them. Stunt work is, by its nature, dangerous. During the last 15 years, there have been numerous instances of injuries on set, even top stars have not been immune. John Abraham, for example, suffered an injury filming an action sequence for Force 2 (2016) despite all precautions. Hrithik Roshan sustained a serious head injury while performing a stunt for Bang Bang! in 2014, requiring surgery, a stark reminder that even with cables and rehearsals, accidents can happen. Tiger Shroff has spoken about the bruises and muscle tears he endured while shooting intense fight scenes for the Baaghi series. And it’s not just the actors in front of the camera, the stunt doubles and fighters who make up the background falls are equally, if not more, exposed to harm.
The evolution of Bollywood’s stunt choreography has therefore gone hand-in-hand with a push for better safety protocols. Gone are the days when stunt performers leapt from buildings onto bare ground or drove cars without roll cages. Today, professional stunt riggers ensure that airbags or padding are just out of frame, fighters wear concealed protective gear, and fire sequences use gel suits and remote ignition for explosions. On high-budget sets, it’s now standard to have ambulances and doctors on standby, and to conduct safety briefings before particularly hazardous stunts.
Complex sequences are often preceded by weeks of rehearsal in controlled environments (such as rehearsing wire stunts in a studio before doing them on location). The use of CGI has also improved safety, for instance, a dangerous fall can be performed from a lower height with wires, and VFX can later erase the wires and extend the height digitally, so the illusion of risk is created without the actual danger. A good example is the skyscraper leap in Pathaan: the stunt team rigged the actor a few meters off the ground against a green screen and later the VFX team combined that footage with a CGI cityscape to make it look like a high-altitude jump.
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Another major development in this era has been the formal recognition and support for stunt professionals. The creation of the National Award for Best Stunt Choreography in 2016 meant that action directors across all Indian film industries (Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood, etc.) could finally be celebrated on a national stage. The first recipient was a duo from the south, reflecting how pan-Indian the stunt community’s contributions are. Mainstream award shows like Filmfare also continued to honor “Best Action” in popular cinema, often giving these awards off-camera, a practice that has been criticized, since it keeps stunt talent out of the limelight.
However, initiatives by actors like Akshay Kumar have helped shine a light. Akshay’s insurance scheme for stunt artists in 2017 was a game-changer, covering hundreds of performers and assuring them and their families of financial help in case of injury. This was followed by more producers budgeting for insurance and demanding safer sets. The Movie Stunt Artists Association of Bollywood also became more vocal about fair wages and working hours, ensuring that those who risk life and limb for entertainment are treated with respect.
Despite these advances, stunt choreographers and their teams often remain unsung heroes to the public. The lead actors usually get the credit for “great action scenes,” but it is the coordinators and doubles who make those moments possible. For instance, when audiences raved about how cool Hrithik and Tiger looked doing backflips in War, few knew it was Liang Yang (a stunt performer from China) who helped execute some complex moves behind the scenes, or that a whole team practiced that bike chase for weeks before the stars even arrived on set.
Similarly, the breathtaking stunts in Pathaan were a result of dozens of anonymous professionals rigging wires, choreographing fight beats, and sometimes standing in as body doubles for the actors in risky shots. These crew members don’t have the fame of the actors, but their dedication is evident in every frame. It’s telling that action directors often describe their work as a labor of love, they work long hours planning and adjusting sequences because they have a passion for the craft, even though the average moviegoer might never know their names.
Bollywood vs. Hollywood vs. South: A Broader Context
Bollywood’s journey in stunt choreography cannot be fully appreciated without a glance at Hollywood and South Indian cinema, both of which have had an impact on and been influenced by Hindi films.
In Hollywood, stunt work has long been a specialized, respected craft. By 2010, Hollywood was regularly producing marvels of action with franchises like Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious, supported by massive budgets and stringent safety standards. Hollywood stunt coordinators are backed by strong guilds and often have decades of experience in high-risk scenarios. Bollywood learned from this by collaborating with some of these experts in the 2010s, as seen with people like Tom Struthers or Casey O’Neill bringing their expertise to Indian sets. This cross-pollination raised the bar in Bollywood: for example, the idea of storyboarding and pre-vis (pre-visualizing action sequences with computer animation before shooting) became more common in big Hindi productions after being standard practice in Hollywood.
Moreover, as Indian audiences became more exposed to Hollywood’s polished action through multiplexes, Bollywood responded by making its action scenes slick and international in feel, evident in movies like War, which aimed to give viewers a Hollywood-style adrenaline rush in an Indian film. That said, Bollywood still retains its unique flavor, Hollywood action tends to be more realistic in physics (except superhero films), whereas Bollywood still allows for some “mass masala” defiance of physics when it’s crowd-pleasing (like a hero slide under a truck or a perfectly timed mid-air explosion escape).
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When it comes to South Indian cinema, action choreography often means pushing the boundaries of imagination. Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films have a tradition of larger-than-life heroes and daredevil stunts that sometimes make Bollywood’s wildest scenes look tame. From Rajinikanth’s stylish feats (like flipping sunglasses with a gun in mid-air) to the epic battlefield stunts in S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali series, South films have been unafraid to use extreme wirework and CGI to awe their audiences. These industries also fostered their own superstar stunt choreographers, like Peter Hein, Anal Arasu, and the duo Anbariv, who have at times worked in Bollywood too.
In fact, Peter Hein’s work in Ghajini (2008) and Anbariv’s action design in KGF (2018) demonstrated techniques that later appeared in Hindi films (for instance, the slow-motion heavy, dust-filled power punch sequences that became popular in stylized action scenes). Conversely, Bollywood’s increasing realism has influenced some South Indian action films to tone down cartoonish elements when targeting pan-Indian audiences. There’s now a healthy exchange: a film like KGF: Chapter 2 winning the National Award for Stunt Choreography in 2022 shows that excellence in action is found across India, and filmmakers everywhere are learning from each other’s successes.
Bollywood today stands as a melting pot of action choreography styles. It takes a leaf from Hollywood’s book on technology and safety, it matches the South’s enthusiasm for grandiose stunts, and it spices it up with its own creativity, whether that means a unique combat style for a hero or integrating an elaborate dance into a fight sequence (a distinctly Indian touch that occasionally happens). This pluralistic approach has only enriched the cinematic experience.
Celebrating the Journey of Stunt Choreography (2010–2025)
Over the 2010–2025 period, Bollywood’s stunt choreography has transformed from a supporting element to a star attraction in its own right. This journey has been marked by relentless innovation, increased collaboration, and a deeper respect for the craft and its craftsmen. We have seen stunt teams go from operating in the shadows with scant resources to leading big-budget units armed with the latest gear. They have introduced Indian audiences to the exhilaration of authentic martial arts duels, the tension of realistic military operations, and the spectacle of physics-defying heroics, sometimes all within a single film.
Crucially, this era also humanized the action genre. Viewers and industry folks alike began acknowledging that behind every thrilling stunt, there is a whole lot of planning, sweat, and often unseen sacrifice. It’s the unseen heroes, the stunt doubles who leap through glass, the fight choreographers who spend nights tweaking sequences, the wire riggers who ensure a flying hero lands safely, who form the backbone of action cinema. Their contribution is finally getting its due credit, and initiatives in safety and recognition are making their lives better. Yet, there’s room to grow: as Bollywood continues to make bigger and bolder action films, it must also continue to prioritize the well-being and acknowledgment of those who make the impossible look easy on screen.
Looking ahead, the future of Bollywood stunt choreography seems bright and boundless. With the advent of new technology like drone cameras, motion-capture for stunts, and ever-evolving VFX, the canvas for action designers is expanding. We may soon see even more seamless blends of real and virtual stunts, creating scenes that were unimaginable a decade ago. At the same time, the foundational emphasis on skill and creativity will remain key, audiences still cheer the loudest for fights that are inventive or chase scenes that bring a fresh twist. Bollywood’s stunt professionals have shown they can deliver on both counts, whether it’s through a perfectly timed punch or a perfectly simulated crash.
In this deep dive, we’ve peeled back the curtain to appreciate how far the choreography of thrills has come in Hindi cinema. From 2010 to 2025, Bollywood evolved from emulating action trends to setting some of its own. It’s a testament to the stunt coordinators and teams that Indian action films today command a global audience and respect. As we celebrate their achievements, one thing is clear: these unseen heroes will continue to elevate our cinematic experience, one spectacular scene at a time. Each time a Bollywood hero walks away from an explosion in slow motion or engages in an epic showdown, we’ll know there’s a talented crew making it possible, and they too deserve a standing ovation.