Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; June 26, 2019)

While he has subject been creating content for decades now, it has taken director-writer Anubhav Sinha a film like Mulk to realise his true creative calling. Gearing up to release Article 15, the filmmaker talks to us about casting Ayushmann Khurrana as an intense police officer and braving controversies with socially-relevant films. Excerpts:

You’ve said that Ayushmann cast himself in this film. He’s never played a character that is so intense. Weren’t the two of you in talks for another film?
Yes, we met for another film. It was two weeks after Mulk (2018) released. He had seen my film and loved it. We both wanted to work with each other. When he met me, I told him about an intense relationship story, the kind he hadn’t done before. But by the time our meeting ended, he asked me if I had a socially-relevant subject. I told him about Kanpur Dehat (original title of Article 15) which I had pushed to the backburner because I didn’t know whom to cast in the lead. I also told him that I couldn’t envision him in it. However, he insisted on reading the script, and pursued me to cast him in it. When I looked up his pictures on the internet, I could only find happy-go-lucky photos, but when I saw him on the set, in the uniform, doing his scenes, I realised just how convinced he was about playing the role.

Did you ever feel that he took a while to step into such an intense, hard-hitting character, given that most of his work in the past demanded a fairly different mindset and approach?
Not at all, he never got rattled with any scene, no matter how difficult it was. Yes, he was slightly thrown-off one day, when I rewrote a lengthy scene overnight. He was ready on the set before I arrived and was taken aback when I told him about the change. I gave him just an hour to prepare. He was nervous when he came on the floor, but he just took five-seven minutes to ease into the scene.

You were asked to mute a word from the trailer of Article 15. After the film was passed by the CBFC with minor cuts and a U/A certificate, fringe groups are objecting to its release...
Unfortunately, today, if you deal with any subject other than a quintessential potboiler, you will face obstacles. The CBFC has to look at a film in keeping with the Cinematograph Act, 1952, penned at a time when no one could say where our society was headed. Things have changed so much since. While there have been minor changes in the Act, it still needs amendments. It states vague things like no religious sentiments should be hurt. No government since Independence, has empowered the CBFC with a strong law and order backing to ensure that if they clear a film, it gets to the theatre without any trouble. It’s a big hurdle. As for me, I faced difficulties getting Mulk cleared, but Article 15, despite being a sensitive subject, was cleared with just four cuts. Whatever was beeped out in the trailer has been retained.

Since the story revolves around a social issue, encountering objections is almost inevitable. Didn’t that occur to you while making the film?
No. I can’t think of making a statement and playing it safe. There have been so many opinion pieces commenting on the film, when the writers have not even watched it, yet. People are appreciating and criticising me for making the protagonist a Brahmin. My point is, how can they think that I support caste divide with a film that objects to the caste system? Ours is a diverse and difficult country. As filmmakers, we need to be patient while dealing with such problems. For those objecting to my film without seeing it, I’d just say, ‘Mera paigham mohabbat hai, jahan tak pahunche...’

The actor has signed up for Anubhav Sinha’s next, which is set in Kanpur, and likely to roll mid-2019
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 29, 2019)

After Mulk, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha is currently busy with the pre-production of his next with Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead. Buzz is, the film is set in Uttar Pradesh and rolls in mid-2019 once the actor wraps up his current projects.

“A chunk of the film will be shot in Kanpur. Like other Ayushmann-starrers this one too is high on content and on a socially-relevant topic. It is based on a true incident and Ayushmann will play a cop for the first time,” informs a source.

If reports are to believed it has been titled Kanpur Dehaat, and the makers are looking to release it in the last quarter of the year.

While interacting with Mirror earlier (January 21), Ayushmann when quizzed about the film neither denied nor confirmed the news. All he said was, “Yes, I am in talks with Anubhav for a film but we have still not finalised on a lot of stuff.”

Last year proved to be a good one for Ayushmann with back-to-back hits in AndhaDhun and Junglee Pictures’ Badhaai Ho. This year, he has already kicked off Ekta Kapoor’s Dream Girl and signed up for Dinesh Vijan’s Bala. While in the former he plays a man who has the ability to modulate his voice to sound like a woman, in Bala he plays the titular role of a small town guy who suffers from premature balding. 

Itishree Misra (LUCKNOW TIMES; January 7, 2019)

Uttar Pradesh, especially Lucknow, was a hot destination for film shoots all of 2018. Big ticket stars shot for their respective films in Lucknow in the past year, including South Indian sensation Rajinikanth who shot for Petta in Lucknow and Varanasi, Sanjay Dutt for Prassthanam, Emraan Hashmi for Why Cheat India, Sidharth Malhotra-Parineeti Chopra for Jabariya Jodi and John Abraham for Batla House.

In fact, Richa Chadha, Amyra Dastur, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Divya Dutta, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Jimmy Sheirgill and Saurabh Shukla, Akshay Oberoi, also shot for films in and around Lucknow in the year gone by.

Meanwhile, Hrithik Roshan shot in Varanasi for Super 30 as did Aftab Shivdasani and Shreyad Talpade who shot for Setters. And while that was last year, this year too promises an impressive lineup of films to be shot in UP.

Here’s looking at a few films that are scheduled to be shot in the state and its capital in the first half of the year.

After shooting for Mulk and Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai in Lucknow, Banarasi Anubhav Sinha is in for a hat trick by shooting his next tentatively titled Kanpur Dehat, this year from February-March onwards. The Mulk directore says, “This movie is set against a rural background and is based on a subject which I want to tell to the people. I wanted to show a small town in the film hence the title Kanpur Dehat, but the actual place has changed so much that I may look for another location and also change the name of the film.” Sinha is expected to shoot the film in Gosainganj, Sultanpur, Malihabad, among other places in and around Lucknow. While the cast of his film is yet to be finalised, grapevine suggests Ayuhsmann Khurrana’s name among the front runners.

Ayushmann, who’s had a superb box office run in 2018, will also be shooting for Amar Kaushik’s next to be shot in Lucknow and Kanpur from April onwards. Titled Bala, Khurana plays the lead in the film, a man who’s fighting hair fall, and pairs with his Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Shubh Mangal Savdhan co-star Bhumi Pednekar. “I plan to start shooting Bala sometime during middle of next year when the summer begins. Bahut sardiyan dekhi hain humne North India ki, abki socha thodi garmi bhi dekhi jaye. The main shooting will be done in Kanpur and then Lucknow,” said Kaushik while in Lucknow for the recce.

Next on the line will be Iulia Vantur’s Radha Kyon Gori Main Kyon Kaala which will be shot in Mathura extensively. “The shooting of this film will begin in Mathura by February end,” informs Rati Shankar Tripathi, the line producer. Iulia will play a Krishna devotee in the film which will be directed by Prem R Soni. The story is based on true incidents in which a foreigner was assaulted while on a trip to India.

February will also witness the presence of actor Nana Patekar in a film shoot that is expected to begin by the end of next month. “The film was stalled for sometime due to the controversy in which Nana sir was involved, but now, it's back on track and will be shot soon in Lucknow,” informs a source involved with the film production.

And the action will continue with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhike Apte reaching Lucknow soon to begin shooting for casting director Honey Trehan’s directorial debut Raat Akeli Hai. The Talvar creative producer, “Trehan will begin shooting for his movie in the city from January 21. The film also stars Tigmanshu Dhulia and Ila Arun and will be shot in Lucknow and Kanpur,” informs Aroon Singh Dicky, the line producer.

The initial recce for the Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg 3 has also been conducted in Malihabad, Lucknow and also Noida. “While half of the film is expected to be shot in and around Lucknow, the rest of it will be canned in Noida from March end onwards,” informs one of the line producers of the film.

This year Prayagraj too comes into the main frame with Siddharth Roy Kapur planning a film on the famed Bhula Bhatka Shivir of the Kumbh Mela. “This the story of Rajaram Tiwari who has since 1946 helped reunite lakhs of people lost in the Kumbh Mela,” informs Rati Shankar Tripathi, the line producer. “Kapur is expected to begin shooting of the film from March-April onwards. The film will also feature scenes from the Kumbh Mela that’s to start soon,” adds Tripathi.

Janhvi Kapoor may also be shooting in the city for the biopic she’s starring in on Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Sharma. “The team of the production house had come to Lucknow last year and they are mulling over shooting some parts of the film in the state,” informs a source. “Talks are also on for an Aamir Khan starrer to be shot in Lucknow and Kanpur,” informs the same source, adding, “The recce and all has been done, they just have to finalise the shooting dates which is expected to be sometime in March 2019.”

Research for a film on Lakhnawi cuisine has also been done and the filmmakers are looking at Akshay Kumar to star in it. “The story is based on Lucknow ka khana, biryani and kebas, how they came into being, who made them first, the recipe and all information pertaining to them,” says a person closely associated with the project.”





(Top) Anubhav Sinha during the recce of his third film in Lucknow and (above) Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte will come together for Honey Trehan’s film