John Abraham and Divya Khosla Kumar to flag off Satyameva Jayate 2 in Lucknow

“On the first day, we will shoot only with the lead pair, but subsequently, other actors like Harsh Chhaya, Gautami Kapoor, Shaad Randhawa, Anup Soni, and Sahil Vaid will join in. We will be shooting across Lucknow, including at heritage structures like palaces and colleges,” informs director Milap Zaveri, who is all praise for the Uttar Pradesh government. “Some of the live locations will be completely sealed off, so crowd gazers cannot sneak in. Only our cast and crew will be present on the spot.”

He shares that even action scenes will be shot on the streets of Lucknow and he has taken his leading man through all the locations virtually. The director lauds John for agreeing to shoot in these tough times. Producer Bhushan Kumar acknowledges the challenge but is confident stringent SoPs will create a safe shooting environment. “It will be scary for the crew at live locations, but it is important to give our audience some entertainment during this pandemic,” he asserts, promising that Part 2 will be bigger and better than the 2018 original. “When we decide to take a franchise forward, we have to be ready with larger-than-life stories and characters. This script is a notch higher and Milap has worked rigorously on the action scenes with John during the lockdown.”

Producer Nikkhil Advani, who was with Milap in Lucknow, asserts that since Milap has developed the subject, he realised that Lucknow would be an apt setting and relocated the story there. Before coronavirus struck, SMJ 2 was based in Mumbai. His director confides that John’s roots in the film are in Varanasi and believes that the transition will give the film a pan-India feel, appealing even to viewers in the interiors. They will also be shooting for a few days at a Mumbai studio early next year before calling it a wrap.

Satyameva Jayate 2 produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar (T-Series), Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, Nikkhil Advani (Emmay Entertainment) is slated to release ‪on May 12, 2021.