After Stree 2 success, Rajkummar Rao starts shooting with Manushi Chhillar for Pulkit’s next in Lucknow

With Stree 2 running successfully in theatres, actor Rajkummar Rao is now focusing on his next, Malik, directed by Pulkit. Rao began shooting in the city outskirts on the Lucknow-Kanpur highway on Sunday. The film is scheduled to be shot for nearly two months.

“Currently, we are shooting in a village, and then the location will shift to Kanpur for 10 to 12 days. Thereafter, the entire team will shift to Lucknow for a long schedule, where the shoot will be held in multiple locations,” said the film’s line producer Aroon Singh Dicky.

This is Pulkit’s second film in Lucknow after the Bhumi Padnekar-starrer Bhakshak. Best known for his OTT series Bose: Dead or Alive (2017), which saw Rao in the role of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, this year saw two film release of the director of Bhakshak and Dedh Bigha Zameen (with actor Pratik Gandhi).

Before Malik, Rao has shot four films in Lucknow — Behen Hogi Teri (2017), Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), Ratna Sinha’s Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana and Anubhav Sinha’s Bheed (2023).

The film also stars Manushi Chhillar, Anshumaan Pushkar, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Swanand Kirkire, among others. Chillar is in Lucknow too. The mahurat shot was held on Sunday at the location at the Pathakpur village.

Rao has been having a great run in the box office this year. Since May, he had three releases starting with Srikanth followed by Mr and Mrs Mahi and finally Stree-2 getting an Independence Day release. Both his earlier films won applause and did well on the collection front. But Rao’s last release proved to be the best commercial project in his career and has been getting good collection. As per reports, Stree 2 had grossed ₹560 worldwide after 11 days in theatres – in India alone it grossed ₹474 crore, while the overseas collection was ₹85.5 crore.