Aahwaan director Onkar Nath Mishra: Aadi Shankaracharya’s next season to be shot in Uttar Pradesh

Filmmaker Onkar Nath Mishra will be shooting the second season of his web show Aadi Shankaracharya in his home state. The director of films Dil Bechara Pyar Ka Mara (2024) and Aahwaan (2014), was recently in the state capital.

“The next season of our web show will be shot in Varanasi, and I am exploring if I can shoot in other rural real locations as well which can blend with the same culture and backdrop. Since Lucknow is the state capital with natural locations in the outskirts as well and a lot of shooting happens here, so it's prudent to shoot in both cities. I am from Sonbhadra, earlier Mirzapur, and for the first time, I am getting an opportunity to shoot here so there is a lot of excitement,” he says.

Mishra says his story brought him to UP. “The first season is about him moving from Kerala to Omkareshwar after taking sanyas. In the next season, which we plan to shoot by the end of the year, we will introduce the elder version of the saint, and he moves to Varanasi and then to Uttarakhand where he propagates his philosophy (Advaita Vedanta). So, this time it’s the storyline which is bringing me here to realise the dream that I have been seeing for so long,” he says.

His film Awahan: The Call of Truth was a biopic on Swami Shraddhanand for Arya Samaj. “I have a lot of historical shows, and my four-part series has a lot of history, and we will bring light in the time and era of that period (8th century). I have been in the industry since 1992, where I started as a writer with Current starring (actors) Om Puri and Deepti Naval. I wrote seven films, assisted in many South Indian films and since 2010 have been creative director for many TV shows while my last show was Vishnu Dashavtaar,” he says.

Mishra says UP has a lot of potential and lots needs to be done. “As a writer-director my driving force to shoot here is the story line and suitable location. But, besides local artistes, we need equipment, local producers and other support. Once that happens like the regional industries like Tamil, Bangla, Telugu and others we can be leaders in Hindi film making,” he says.