Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) Punjabi actor-singer Gippy Grewal has opened up about the most difficult part of filming his much-anticipated movie, “Akaal.”

While many may assume that action-packed war sequences or emotional scenes would be the toughest, Gippy revealed that the real challenge lay in a much more unexpected aspect of the shoot. According to him, the hardest part of the entire process was related to a critical skill of horsework that many actors were not typically familiar with.

The ‘Ardaas’ actor told IANS, “The most difficult part was the horsework. Most of the actors hadn’t ridden horses before, so that was tough. Today, there are easy ways to make it seem like they’re riding a horse, using fake horses, but I didn’t want to do that too much. It wouldn’t have the same impact. You don’t get the full effect unless you're actually on a live horse.”

“I had to convince the actors a lot, and I even rode a horse myself for the film. It’s challenging because sometimes animals are in a good mood, and sometimes not. There were times when the horses threw the actors off, and they’d get scared. That added more difficulty, especially when there’s a war scene in the middle, and we have to ensure no one gets hurt. That was tough,” Gippy added.

Gippy also revealed that the challenges started even before the cameras began rolling.

“A lot of things were on my mind when I started writing the story for Akaal. It had been a long time coming, and there were several aspects I had to consider. There were things I had to do, and there were things I had to think about. The journey was full of challenges, but that’s part of the process, especially with a project and role this big. It was a big-budget film, and we had to learn a lot. We had to figure out how to approach it and what to do.”

One of the most significant challenges came with certain pivotal sequences in the film. Gippy explained that there were a couple of major scenes where the team felt that if they went with their initial idea, it might not work. "We had to come up with alternative versions of those sequences. I didn’t want anything in the film to feel off or not up to the mark. I wanted everything to resonate with the audience and leave them feeling good," he said.

Interestingly, Gippy Grewal takes on a triple role in the upcoming film “Akaal” as the star, director, and writer. The film features a talented ensemble cast, including Nimrat Khaira, Apinderdeep Singh, Mita Vashisht, Prince Kanwaljit Singh, Nikitin Dheer, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Shinda Grewal, Ekom Grewal, and Jaggi Singh.

“Akaal” is set to hit cinemas on April 10, 2025, and will be available in both Punjabi and Hindi.