On Wednesday, John Abraham and Divya Khosla Kumar will flag off Satyameva Jayate 2. The filming of the Bhushan Kumar and Nikkhil Advani production will continue in Lucknow till January 2021.

“On the first day, we will shoot only with the lead pair, but subsequently, other actors like Harsh Chhaya, Gautami Kapoor, Shaad Randhawa, Anup Soni, and Sahil Vaid will join in. We will be shooting across Lucknow, including at heritage structures like palaces and colleges,” informs director Milap Zaveri, all praise for the Uttar Pradesh government. “Some of the live locations will be completely sealed off, so crowd gazers cannot sneak in. Only our cast and crew will be present on the spot.”

He shares that even action scenes will be shot on the streets of Lucknow and he has taken his leading man through all the locations virtually. He lauds John for agreeing to shoot in these tough times. His producer acknowledges the challenge, but is confident stringent SoPs will create a safe shooting environment. “It will be scary for the crew at live locations, but it is important to give our audience some entertainment during this pandemic,” asserts Bhushan, promising that Part 2 will be bigger and better than the 2018 original. “When we decide to take a franchise forward, we have to be ready with larger-than-life stories and characters. This script is a notch higher and Milap has worked rigorously on the action scenes with John during the lockdown.”

His production partner, Nikkhil, who was with Milap in Lucknow, asserts that since Milap has developed the subject, he realised that Lucknow would be an apt setting and relocated the story there. Before Coronavirus struck, SMJ 2 was based in Mumbai. His director confides that John’s roots in the film are in Varanasi and believes that the transition will give the film a pan-India feel, appealing even to viewers in the interiors. They will also be shooting for a few days at a Mumbai studio early next year before calling it a wrap.

Nikkhil, whose production house has completed three films in the last few months, including Kiara Advani’s Indoo Ki Jawani, Kaashvie Nair’s cross-border love story and Akshay Kumar’s espionage thriller, Bellbottom, in Scotland, is confident that this one, too, will be a smooth ride. “Our teams will ensure and take all precautionary measures for the safety of the entire crew,” Nikkhil avers.

The film will open on Eid 2021. “It’s a franchise that celebrates the victory of good over evil and that’s a perfect recipe for Eid. Plus, there’s lots of action, drama and dialoguebaazi,” Milap signs off.