A Conversation With Abbas Ali Moghul

In this episode, Pooja meets Abbas Ali Moghul, the award-winning action director behind more than 300 films and shows, and the son of actor Habib, who fled Iran at seventeen to chase his dream of working in Hindi cinema. Habib went on to appear in more than 150 films, yet passed away with little recognition. Abbas carries that legacy forward with quiet pride, and has become one of India’s most respected action directors, known for crafting iconic sequences in films like Ghulam, Josh and Agneepath.In this conversation, Abbas reflects on performing death-defying stunts long before VFX and modern safety gear. He shares what it means to stand in for stars when things turn dangerous: jumping off an eleven-storey building without ropes, crashing through glass walls, even setting himself ablaze.Abbas takes Pooja behind the scenes of some of Bollywood’s most unforgettable moments: Aamir Khan’s legendary train stunt in Ghulam, Akshay Kumar’s daring leap onto an aircraft’s wings, and the thoughtful lesson Hrithik Roshan once offered his son, Arbaaz.The discussion traces Abbas’s extraordinary arc—from acting in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi to witnessing his father’s struggles and isolation within the industry.This episode shines a light on the grit behind the glamour: the underpaid stunt performers who risk everything, the moments Abbas worked while wheelchair-bound, and the sleepless nights that still precede every dangerous shoot, even after forty years in the business. It’s a heartfelt reminder of the invisible backbone of cinema, and the passion that keeps it alive.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.