Anubhav Sinha to shoot his next in Lucknow

Director Anubhav Sinha is all geared up to shoot his fifth film in Lucknow by this year end. Dealing with some hard-hitting subjects since he directed his award-winning film Mulk in the state capital, Sinha has already shot Abhi to Party Shuru Hui Hai, Article-15 and Thappad here.

Not revealing much about the subject, the UPite on his recent visit to the city shares, “All I can tell as of now is that I’ll be shooting my next here in November and December. Rest will be announced soon and as far as subject is concerned, I want the film to do the talking.” He kept away from disclosing other details like the title and the cast of the film.

Sinha feels his subjects in 2.0 avatar will be based on common issues. “Caste divide, secularism and patriarchy do exist in our society. And I am writing and making films on the stories that are very much happening around us. The major difference from my earlier films is that I am not shooting my favourite slow-motion shots, love songs at foreign locations or action sequences. But instead,I am enjoying the current pattern as its straight from the heart.”

The Ra.One director has been keeping himself busy in the unlock phase. “After the song Bambai Main Kya Ba (with Manoj Bajpai) I presented another Bhojpuri song Ba Babuni but I then I realised that the audience’s want something different…so I stopped. I wrote two scripts out of which I shot Anek (with Ayushmann Khurrana) in the North-East and with the other one I am back in Lucknow.”

Was pandemic the reason to shift to North-East? “No, the film is set there and couldn’t have been shot anywhere else. I have done four films in Lucknow yet none was set here…one is story of Varanasi, another of Noida while other two don’t have any named location. Even this one again is a universal story. My biggest reason to come here is ease of shooting, the support I get, compatibility with local team and of course the love of the people…it’s like shooting on an auto-pilot mode.”

Abhi… was shot in 2018 but it’s still unreleased. “I am a lover of big screen and I hope and pray by year-end we start getting audience. I wanted to add some changes in the film which have been incorporated so now one after another these films will release. Rest, in pandemic no one knows what’s in store!”