Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 7, 2015)

Emraan Hashmi, who kickstarted the first schedule of his upcoming sports biopic, Azhar, at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London on July 25, was joined by his on-screen wives Prachi Desai (she plays Noor) and Nargis Fakhri (who plays Sangeeta Bijilani) at the Mecca of Cricket on Thursday. Today, the rest of the cast, which including Bigg Boss Season 8 winner Gautam Gulati as Ravi Shastri and Lara Dutta, who plays a lawyer in the film, will arrive at the hallowed stadium too.

Mohammad Azharuddin had captained the Indian team to a 3-0 series win over England in India during the 1992-93 historic series.

"We will be maintaining complete authenticity and will stick to the three aspects of Azhar's life - his religious beliefs, his two wives and the controversial spotfixing scandal during his cricketing career. We researched the film over six-months of regular interactions with Azhar. He was a crucial part of the scripting and only after he gave his approval to the final screenplay did the unit start shooting," informs scriptwriter Rajat Aroraa.

Producer Ekta Kapoor and director Anthony D'Souza have got special permissions for Emraan to not only bat on the sacred pitch but also practice on the grounds.

"It is a one-and-a-half month schedule and getting permission was a long and tedious process. Several Indian stadiums wanted to associate with the project, but the makers were keen on filming at Lords," reveals a source close to the development, confirming that a few portions will also be shot at The Oval Cricket ground in South London.