Badass Ravi Kumar: How Oman’s Diverse Landscapes Powered the Film’s Larger-than-Life Visuals
When a film embraces larger-than-life action, dramatic characters and an unapologetically stylised visual language, its locations need to do more than simply provide a backdrop. They need to become part of the story.
That is exactly what Oman brings to Badass Ravi Kumar, the Himesh Reshammiya-starrer directed by Keith Gomes. Released in February 2025, the action entertainer takes audiences into a world of heightened drama, retro aesthetics, action and spectacle, with several sequences filmed across Oman.
For India Shoots, the project was an opportunity to showcase how Oman’s varied landscapes can support a large-scale Indian production while offering filmmakers an extraordinary range of visual environments within one destination.
A 40-Day Production Across Oman
India Shoots, along with MSM Entertainment Oman, line produced the film in Oman over a period of 40 days, coordinating the production across multiple locations.
The shoot brought together a diverse selection of Omani landscapes and urban environments, including the Wahiba Desert, Muscat, Al Hoota Caves, Qantab Beach, Barr Al Jissah Marina, Yiti Heights, Al Mouj Marina and the Mutrah Corniche, along with several hospitality and dining locations.
The diversity of these locations allowed the production to move between dramatically different visual worlds—from expansive desert landscapes and rugged mountain terrain to beaches, marinas and the streets of Muscat.
For a film built around spectacle, this range offered filmmakers the flexibility to create distinct settings without losing the visual continuity of the story.
Oman on the Big Screen
The location work did not go unnoticed.
In its review of Badass Ravi Kumar, Bollywood Hungama specifically highlighted the film's cinematography and noted that the Oman locations were captured particularly well. The review also praised the film's grand visual treatment, while describing its action, music and production design as important elements of its deliberately heightened style.
The observation is significant because it demonstrates the role that locations can play beyond simply filling the frame. Oman’s natural and architectural diversity becomes part of the film’s visual identity.
For international productions, this versatility can be particularly valuable. A single country can provide filmmakers with dramatically different textures, landscapes and environments, helping productions achieve visual variety while keeping location logistics manageable.
From Desert Landscapes to Coastal Settings
One of the biggest strengths of filming in Oman is the contrast between its environments.
The Wahiba Desert offers vast expanses of sand and an unmistakable sense of scale. In contrast, locations around Qantab, Barr Al Jissah and the Omani coastline introduce water, rocky terrain and dramatic coastal compositions.
Muscat adds another layer, combining urban infrastructure with traditional Omani architecture and surrounding mountains.
This combination makes Oman particularly adaptable for productions that require multiple visual identities. Action sequences, dramatic confrontations, travel sequences, establishing shots and character-driven scenes can all be approached through different environments without requiring filmmakers to move between multiple countries.
Supporting a Large-Scale Production
Filming across numerous locations also comes with its own production demands.
A multi-location schedule requires careful planning around permits, crew movement, equipment, local coordination, location access and shooting schedules. For an international production, understanding the local production ecosystem becomes just as important as finding the right location.
That is where local production expertise becomes essential.
For Badass Ravi Kumar, India Shoots and MSM Entertainment Oman worked on the ground to facilitate the 40-day production, helping coordinate the requirements of a major Indian film shoot across multiple Omani environments.
The project demonstrates how location management and production coordination can work together to turn a destination's geographical diversity into a creative advantage.
A Visual Fit for the Film’s 1980s-Style World
Badass Ravi Kumar deliberately embraces an exaggerated, retro-inspired cinematic language. The film is set in 1989 and uses an 80s-style narrative, heightened action and stylised characters as part of its identity.
That visual approach benefits from locations with strong character of their own.
Oman provides exactly that variety: expansive deserts, rugged mountains, coastal landscapes, marinas, traditional architecture and modern urban environments.
Combined with production design, costumes, cinematography and visual effects, these settings help construct the heightened world the film is aiming for.
Bollywood Hungama's review also singled out Manoj Soni's cinematography, production design and the way the Omani locations were photographed as notable technical elements of the film.
Oman as a Film Destination
The success of productions such as Badass Ravi Kumar also illustrates the growing potential of Oman as a destination for international filmmaking.
The country's geographical diversity gives filmmakers access to beaches, deserts, mountains, wadis, traditional villages and urban environments. Its relatively compact geography can also make it possible to create significant visual variation within a single production destination.
For production companies, however, the location itself is only one part of the equation. The ability to manage permissions, local crew, logistics, equipment, accommodation and on-ground production requirements is what can turn a promising location into a workable filming destination.
India Shoots' experience on Badass Ravi Kumar reflects this intersection between location expertise and production execution.
India Shoots: Bringing Productions to Oman
The Badass Ravi Kumar shoot is another example of how India Shoots works with international and Indian productions to facilitate filming across diverse locations.
From identifying suitable environments to coordinating local production requirements, the objective is to allow filmmakers to focus on their creative vision while the production logistics are managed on the ground.
Oman's combination of natural landscapes, architectural variety and production potential makes it an increasingly interesting destination for filmmakers looking beyond conventional shooting locations.
And Badass Ravi Kumar offers a striking example of what that combination can look like on screen.
India Shoots, along with MSM Entertainment Oman, line produced Badass Ravi Kumar in Oman for 40 days.
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