Harish Shankar: After Mr Bachchan: Naam Tho Suna Hoga with Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu, wish to shoot Raid2 in Lucknow

After wrapping the shoot of the Telugu film Mr Bachchan: Naam Tho Suna Hoga with actors Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu, director Harish Shankar wants to come back to shoot another film in the state capital.

“I was planning to shoot a project in Lucknow for a long time but was not able to get the right script. The Raid (2018) remake gave me the opportunity. Due to the script’s demand, we too zeroed in on Shivgarh Palace, where the original film was shot six years ago. I had great support from my line producer and government officials who felicitated us to continue with our shoot even during festivals like Holi and Eid. It’s genuinely great to get such support and that’s the reason I will surely want to come back to Lucknow once again,” says the maker of Allu Arjun’s blockbuster DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham (2017).

Harish Shankar filming Mr Bachchan: Naam Tho Suna Hoga at Shivgarh Palace; with actor Ravi Teja with Jagapathi Babu

Shankar adds, “I have made a lot of changes to the original script according to the Telugu audiences. I narrated the fresh take to director Rajkumar Gupta and actor Ajay Devgn ji during the mahurat of Raid 2 and they were really happy. The makers of the original film partnered with us for the project. It was a lucky coincidence that both films were being shot in Lucknow at the same period and they are excited to watch the Telugu version and I was looking forward to witnessing the sequel and someday hopefully remake it as well.”

Harish Shankar filming Mr Bachchan: Naam Tho Suna Hoga in Lucknow

Shankar has many hit remakes to his credit. “I have made nine films, and this is my third remake. I write my own stories, the fact is that you get inspired by something and create a story around it be it real incidents, literature, book or anything. When I remade Dabangg (2010) titled Gabbar Singh (2012) it became a super hit and had superb collections. I made the hit film Gaddalakonda Ganesh (2019) a remake of Jigarthanda (2014) a Kannada project which eventually got remade into Bachchhan Paandey (2022). Making a remake looks easy but it’s equally tough!”

He has already shot 30% of a feature film Ustaad Bhagat Singh with actor-politician Pawan Kalyan. “Kalyan sir is contesting the elections so he is on a break, and we will restart the film once he is done with it,” he ends.

‘Pan-India film on the cards’

“I have a story set on India-Pakistan border, set in the present and past time. It’s inspired by a real incident, but will be a fictional story. I believe that people come to watch cinema for entertainment. Many question me that sachaai kyon nahin dikhate, but I feel we see real-life incidents all the time so, as a filmmaker, I try to provide them with something that entertains and makes them stress-free,” he says.

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