Kabir Khan celebrates 18 years of his debut film 'Kabul Express'

As his debut movie 'Kabul Express' completed 18 years in Hindi cinema, filmmaker Kabir Khan said first is always "the most special".

Kabir took to Instagram stories, where he shared a poster of the film, which also stars John Abraham and Arshad Warsi. On the poster, it is written "Celebrating 18 years of Kabul Express".

For the caption, Kabir wrote: "The first is always the most special."

Kabir started his career at age 25 as a cinematographer for the documentary film Beyond the Himalayas directed by Gautam Ghosh. He then made his own directorial debut with the documentary The Forgotten Army based on Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army.

He made his mainstream directorial debut with the Yash Raj Films-backed adventure thriller Kabul Express in 2006. The film, according to him, was loosely based on his and his friend Rajan Kapoor's experiences in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

The film told the story of two Indian journalists, an American journalist and an Afghan guide who are taken as hostages by Pakistani soldiers. They are forced to take a 48-hour journey into a war-torn country.

The film saw its fair share of controversies. In 2007, the government of Afghanistan, who had earlier supported the shooting of the film in the country, banned the film despite it not having been officially released there.

The banning was over the film's allegedly racist portrayal of the ethnic Hazara Shia minority, one of the four largest ethnicities in Afghanistan, according to reports.

After 'Kabul Express', Kabir went on to make 'New York', the action thriller 'Ek Tha Tiger' starring Salman Khan, 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', 'Phantom' and '83'.

His most recent release is the Kartik Aaryan-starrer 'Chandu Champion', a biographical sports drama. The actor played India's first Paralympics gold medallist Murlikant Petkar. The film told the story of an extraordinary man confronting challenges with unwavering determination. His spirit and resilience propel him through adversity, ultimately forging a path to historic achievement.