What drives Faruk Kabir to Lucknow again!

Writer-director Faruk Kabir has a strong Uttar Pradesh connection. It’s due to this connection that he has decided to come here again and make the ‘second chapter’ of his film ‘Khuda Haafiz’ that he had shot in early 2020 in Lucknow. Currently in Lucknow to scout for locations of his sequel shoot, Kabir said the shooting would begin here from next month.

“I wanted to stay true to the couple Sameer and Nargis (Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi) who in first edition hailed from Lucknow,” said the ‘Allah Ke Bandey’ actor-director.

“I know Lucknow and UP very well as I have been coming to this place since my childhood. My grandfather originally hailed from Rampur. As kids, we used to often go there as well as to Nainital, Corbett Park and Ranikhet. My nana Murad saheb (an actor) too was from Rampur. My mother and my mama (Raza Murad) have also spent considerable time in the same city,” he recalled.

“We have spent lot of time there and personally also I have been regularly visiting UP a lot,” said Kabir whose wife Ruksar Rehman too originally hails from Rampur.

They will start their 40-day schedule in the state capital from May-end.

A lot of lehza, tameez, culture and different flavours will be seen in his next. “There is so much culture in the city and I have cast some 20-odd local actors which will reflects different flavours of the city,” he said.

At present he is scouting for untouched locations. “So much film and OTT series are being shot in Lucknow these days. I have been scouting for places where people have not shot at all. Thankfully, we found many amazing places! This time the film will be shot here much more before we travel to Egypt,” he said.

He also spoke on making action superstar Vidyut play a common man.

“I know I am working with a person who is a disciplined man. All know he is skillful martial artiste, full of energy and concentration that I diverted towards toward acting. He was brave to shed his action image and he surrendered to my vision which created a jugalbandi of sorts,” he said.

“We were able to create action which was raw, real, brutal at times and emotional. We always looked at the film as a love story between a husband and wife than make it an action film. The next chapter too will be high on emotions than anything else,” he said.

Kabir said the Kushinagar and Gorakhpur belt is largely unexplored and if a storyline permits, he would shoot something there in future.