Lucknow lad and actor Santosh Shukla recently wrapped a shoot for a six-episode web series in his home state. Shot to fame with Bigg Boss 6 (2013) and film Jai Ho (2014), Shukla was last seen in Akshay Kumar-starrer Bachchhan Paandey (2022).
The series has been extensively shot in Rampur. “Earlier, we were planning to shoot Bhakshan 1.0 on Lucknow outskirts but the locations we got in Rampur were amazing and at a much more economical price. UP is blessed to have amazing untapped locations,” shares the actor on his visit to hometown Lucknow.
The series also stars Piyush Mishra, Anil Rastogi, Mushtaq Khan, Subhanshu Singh Rajput, Raj Premi, Middat Khan and Jhanvi Adhikari. The series has been directed by debutant Anuj Kumar Roy, an ex-assistant with director Ram Gopal Verma, and has been written by Shikhar Srivastava, a Lucknowite.
“Very early in my career I moved to Mumbai and have been shooting for TV and then films there. It’s now that I got a few opportunities to shoot in Uttar Pradesh. Thankfully, nowadays the focus is on shooting in real locations, and not on sets, so new opportunities are opening. It’s a blessing to get work that is set up in your home state. I play a powerful politician in the series,” says Shukla.
{{/usCountry}}“Very early in my career I moved to Mumbai and have been shooting for TV and then films there. It’s now that I got a few opportunities to shoot in Uttar Pradesh. Thankfully, nowadays the focus is on shooting in real locations, and not on sets, so new opportunities are opening. It’s a blessing to get work that is set up in your home state. I play a powerful politician in the series,” says Shukla.
{{/usCountry}}The second season of the series is scheduled to be shot in Lucknow as per the story’s demand.
Shukla has also completed the shoot of his film Gulaabi Rewri which has been entirely shot in his hometown Lucknow.
“We have done multiple schedules of the film as we shot it with talented actors Lekha Prajapati, Nazia Hussain and Pankhuri Gidwani. We have wrapped the post-production of the film, and it will be streaming on an OTT platform early next year. Besides, we will be shooting a film music video soon in Lucknow which has already been recorded, and we are in the process of finalizing the female lead,” he ends.