Only months after the stupendous success of Gadar 2: The Katha Continues (2023), Anil Sharma had started shooting his next, Journey, and hoped to wrap it up by March-end. Sure enough, the Nana Patekar-led film is now gearing up for its final schedule that will take place in Mumbai. Considering the father-son relationship drama is largely set in Uttar Pradesh, we hear the team will film a nautanki song—a folk art that has its origins in north India—during this leg. Besides Patekar, it will feature Kushboo Sundar and Utkarsh Sharma, who play his on-screen wife and son respectively.

Currently, a set reflecting the vibrant mood of Varanasi is being built in a north Mumbai studio for the dance number.

A source from the film’s creative team shares, “The final schedule will begin on March 20. Over those 15 days, Anil sir wants to shoot some talkie portions featuring the primary cast, and the nautanki song. Mithoon has composed a foot-tapping track, keeping the sounds of the folk art in mind, while production designer Muneesh Sappel is designing the set. Since the folk song relies heavily on dance, Anil sir’s brief to choreographer Shabina Khan was to imagine it as a bright and colourful number, capturing the spirit of Varanasi.”

Journey’s narrative spans three cities—Varanasi, Shimla and Mumbai. While the first schedule was shot in real locations of the Uttar Pradesh city, the unit then had a 25-day leg in Shimla in January. After the Mumbai stint is complete, the filmmaker will dive into post-production in order to ready the movie for the last quarter of 2024. The source adds, “The aim is to release the movie on a festival weekend in October or November.”

For Anil, his first collaboration with Patekar is the highlight. The filmmaker says, “All I can say is that he is an extraordinary actor who is completely involved in the film. For six months, he has only been thinking about Journey and nothing else. He loves to discuss everything [about the scene in question] before, but on set, there is no discussion about the movie.”

Even before the year has come to a close, Anil Sharma—the director behind the blockbuster, Gadar 2: The Katha Continues—has made his way back to a movie set. He recently wrapped up the first schedule of Journey, which is led by Nana Patekar. If Gadar 2 saw Sunny Deol’s protagonist cross the border to rescue his son, the upcoming father-son drama is understated and realistic. Sources say that Journey is along the lines of Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini’s Baghban (2003).

A source from the creative team reveals, “Journey spans three cities and revolves around elderly parents and their child, played by Utkarsh Sharma. It will remind viewers of Baghban, and Rajesh Khanna and Shabana Azmi-starrer, Avtaar [1983]. South actor Kushboo Sundar plays Nana’s wife.”

While the cast kicked off the shoot in the first week of November in Varanasi, the second schedule will be conducted in Shimla in January. The source adds, “Beginning January 15, a 40-day schedule has been lined up. The final leg will be in Mumbai, with Anil planning to complete the shoot by March-end.”

For the director, it is a pleasure to work with an actor of Patekar’s calibre. Anil says, “Once he gets the script, he is like a student. Nana-ji will sit with the director, write down each dialogue, and take notes in a book. He tells us, ‘When I come on the set, I should be fully comfortable with my lines so that I can focus on my performance.’ That’s why his dialogues and performances look so real.”

The filmmaker, who is riding the wave of success after Gadar 2, says he doesn’t feel pressured to deliver another hit. “After Gadar 2, the expectations have naturally increased, but I don’t let them affect me. If Journey manages to win people’s hearts, I will be happy.”

After a clip of veteran actor Nana Patekar slapping a selfie-seeking fan went viral and drew heavy criticism, the director of his upcoming film, Anil Sharma, has come forward to clarify that it was all a part of a scene.

The video in question showed Patekar, dressed in a suit and having a hat on, smacking a fan who approached him for a selfie. The clip is from Varanasi, where the 72-year-old actor is shooting for his next film, Journey, with Sharma.

Addressing the controversy, Sharma told Aaj Tak, “I have just come to know about this news. I was watching the same video just now. Nana has not hit anyone, rather, that is a shot from my film. We were filming it on the road in the middle of Banaras, where a boy who comes near Nana has to be hit on the head. Shooting was going on and Nana had to hit him.”

He added, “But, the crowd gathered there recorded it on their mobile cameras and leaked the shot of the film. Now, Nana is being projected as a negative and rude actor on social media, which is completely wrong. I would request fans to understand the truth of this video.”

Social media users were quick to call out the actor as soon as the clip started making the rounds online. “Taking selfies with Nana could be injurious to health,” a user wrote on X. Another called Patekar’s behaviour “shocking” and wrote, “He could have easily said no. What was the need to slap that guy who just wanted a photo?”