Vivek Agnihotri to shoot his next in Lucknow

The Kashmir Files director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri will be shooting his next film in Lucknow

The Kashmir Files director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri will be shooting his next film in Lucknow.

Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on his visit to Hindustan Times office in Lucknow. (HT Photo)

“I am a UPite, from Kanpur, and the kind of movies I’ve made did not fit in my home state. Now, I have a story that can be told here,” he says during his visit to the office of Hindustan Times in Lucknow.

Accompanied with his wife and actor Pallavi Joshi, he says that his last promotional visit to the state capital motivated him to shoot here.

Agnihotri with his wife and actor Pallavi Joshi. (Deep Saxena/HT)

“When I met Yogiji (Adityanath, UP chief minister) during my last visit I was told about the upcoming film city. I am also of the view that we should have a film industry in the Hindi-speaking belt like other states have for their people. So, I decided to come and work here with the local talent.”

He is scheduled to start the 40-day schedule from December 10.

“From whatever little we earned from TKF, we thought of making a film that we can feel proud of. I’ve read the ICMR director general’s book (Balram Bhargava’s Going Viral - Making of Covaxin: The Inside Story) that showcased how Indian scientists, many of whom are women, tirelessly made a Covid vaccine, of which 250 crore doses have been administered so far. People don’t know about them so I decided to tell this inspiring story and shoot the entire film in Lucknow,” tells the director.

The film stars Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi, Nivedita Bhattacharya and Rajeshwari Sachdev. “Nearly 90% of the cast is from the state... it’ll be a character-driven film.”

Agnihotri adds that he will be shooting his next project in the ‘Files’ series after the movie on vaccine. “I have been researching for The Delhi Files since last four years, which is on the partition. We will be able to start that film after we complete this.”

The Hate Story and Zid director says that he is done with the masala films. “Ab umar ho gai hai. I have been there and done that. I want to tell stories that make youngsters feel proud of our country. Moreover, I am trying to correct the distorted history though cinema,” he says as he signs off.