Santosh Shukla: Lucknow ki Holi ka maza hi kuch aur hai!

After a period of four years, ‘Jai Ho’ actor Santosh Shukla is getting a chance to be in his home town Lucknow for Holi

After a period of four years, ‘Jai Ho’ actor Santosh Shukla is getting a chance to be in his home town Lucknow for Holi. “Thanks to my short film that I just wrapped yesterday as well as my upcoming talent hunt show, that I got this opportunity to celebrate the festival of colours with my family,” said Santosh who will next be seen in the upcoming film ‘Bachchan Pandey’.

Actor Santosh Shukla in Lucknow (HT Photo)

Due to celebrity mega-holi bashes and channel celebrations, he used to stay in Mumbai during the fest. “Unfortunately, with pandemic things are not same anymore but there are lot of memories of childhood attached to this festival — gubaaroon ke saath, steel-wali pani-ki-tanki and puccka-wala rang from Aminabad. But now, it’s tailor made abir-gulal wali holi for me. The best part is mummy ke haat ki gujiya!”

Going gaga over his home town he said, “Lucknow is a vibrant city and colourful mijaz ke log bhi hai isliye yahan ka maza hi kuch aur hai!”

The actor was shooting his short film ‘Gulabi Rewri’ here. “I play the lead opposite Lekha Pratapati and the film has been written by Sujit Kumar Gupta and directed by Deepak Srivastava. We shot in Charbagh rewri market, Picture Gallery, Chotta Imambara and old Haveli.”

The ‘Dabangg3’ actor is happy to finally be able transform his image. “I play Lucknow-lad who is personification of sharafat, nazakat and ishq. You can call it a rugged character but not a negative. I wanted to break my image and, in the lockdown, I contemplated over it. And I have realised the mistakes that I have made in the past.”

He is looking forward to ‘Bachchan Pandey.’ “Here I play a negative but very powerful character. When you work with people like Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Jacquline Fernandez and film maker like Sajid Nadiadwala then your confidence goes to a different level.” Besides he is awaiting the release of ‘Pyar Main Thoda Twist’ that he shot in Lucknow followed by another a web series.