Banner: Emmay Entertainment
Producer: Nikhil Advani, Monisha Advani, Madhu G Bhojwani & Viacom18 Pictures
Director: Ranjit Tiwari
Star Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Diana Penty, Gippy Agarwal, Ronit Roy, Deepak Dobriyal, Inamulhaq, Rajesh Mishra, Uday Tikekar, Sukh Kanwar, Vineet Gill, Ravi Kissen, Manoj Tiwari, Virendra Saxsena, Manav Vij, Robin Das et al
Music: Arjunna Harjale, Rochak Kohli & Tanishk Bagchi
Just 3 weeks ago, audiences were exposed to the terrible life of jails in Qaidi Band. Surprisingly, Lucknow Central, that releases this Fri, also deals with life in the prison and what’s more, the crux in both the films is the prisoners forming a band in order to escape from jail. So does Lucknow Central manage to make a mark, despite the similarities with the other film or does it fail in making an impact?
The scripted scenario of Lucknow Central enlightens that it is the story of a group of prisoners who get a unique opportunity in escaping from jail. Aspiring singer Kishan Mohan Girhotra (Farhan Akhtar) is framed for the murder of an IAS officer in his hometown Moradabad. He is sentenced to life imprisonment & after 18 months, he is shifted to Lucknow Central jail. He finds out that the IGP (Virendra Saxena) has asked for a band to be formed in Lucknow Central comprising of a group of prisoners. They are to perform at an Independence Day celebration and also compete with band from other prisons of Uttar Pradesh. An adamant NGO worker Gayatri (Diana Penty) is given the responsibility to form the band. Kishan jumps at this opportunity and signs up for the band. He also succeeds in roping in Victor Chattopadhyay (Deepak Dobriyal), Parminder Singh Gill (Gippy Grewal), Purushottam Madan Pandit (Rajesh Sharma) & Liyakat Ansari (Inaamulhaq) after facing some resistance. Kishan however is not just trying to fulfill his singing ambition by forming this band. He also plans to escape. But the jailer at Lucknow Central (Ronit Roy) is tough and not easy to be fooled. He senses about this plan. What happens later on forms the crux of the film.
Ranjit Tiwari’s direction is simple but with such a flawed script, there’s nothing much he could have done. Few scenes are well handled but they all get overshadowed by the many bad scenes. Aseem Arora’s dialogues however are fine, especially the ones mouthed by Ravi Kishan. The story penned by Ranjit Tiwari & Aseem Arora stands on a weak wicket. Aseem Arora’s screenplay is faulty & riddled with complete goof ups. Lucknow Central just doesn’t work and the glaring similarities with Qaidi Band are not to blame. The beginning portions are still fine. But the film defies logic soon enough and that continues right till end. What was the relevance of Kishan pretending to be mute when he reaches Lucknow Central? Kishan plans to escape from jail and then fulfill his singing dreams. How on earth he’d do that and why didn’t he realize that someone who has escaped from a prison would have to always hide from the cops and that becoming a famous singer is out of option, is inexplicable! Also certain developments in the film are highly unconvincing. The manner in which Victor ditches Tilakdhaari (Manav Vij) and joins Kishan is difficult to digest. Also how Pandit agrees to join Kishan and why nobody has a plan after escaping from jail is too much. The character of Gayatri is also half baked. It’s amusing to see her getting convinced by Kishan and decides to help him form the band. The “Teen Kabootar” song does spike some interest but immediately afterwards, the jailor leaks the video which didn’t make an iota of sense. Lastly, sequences seem to be inspired from films like Happy New Year, Gupt and even Shawshank Redemption, further diluting the impact. The Music of the film doesn’t work and that’s not good for a film that is about a band. “Kaavaan Kaavaan” is the only track that works. “Teen Kabootar” is interesting as it’s conceptualized well. The other songs like “Meer – E – Kaarwan”, “Rangdaari” & “Baaki Rab Pe Chhod De” are poor. Arjunna Harjaie’s background score is dramatic and adds to the tension. Tushar Kanti Ray’s cinematography is neat. Amit Ray & Subrata Chakraborty’s production design is fine. Charu Shree Roy’s editing is bad. The film is too long at 147 minutes and could have been way shorter.
Performance wise Farhan Akhtar delivers a decent performance and manages to carry his duty of a leading actor. But this performance is no way close to his other memorable performances. Diana Penty looks pretty and doesn’t get much scope. After such a crucial role in Happy Bhag Jayegi, it’s disappointing to see her in such a weak part. Deepak Dobriyal as always is dependable and gets the Bengali accent right. He is quite moving in the scene where he meets his father. Rajesh Sharma also proves his worth & performs ably. Inaamulhaq gets a raw deal and could have done better. He rocked the show in Filmistaan and also in Jolly LLB 2. But here he just doesn’t work. Gippy Grewal gets a chance to shine despite the presence of so many actors. A fine performance and his look is quite interesting! Ronit Roy is menacing as always but his performance suffers due to bad writing. Ravi Kishan (Pawan Singh Chaturvedi) takes the film to another level with his cameo appearance. His dialogue on Donald Trump will be loved. Robin Das (Kishan’s father) is okay. Manav Vij has intense eyes & is alright. Virendra Saxena (IG) does fine. Manoj Tiwari plays himself and there’s nothing much to talk about his act.
Tail Piece: On the whole, Lucknow Central is a poor show all the way. The weak script, lack of entertainment value & long run time of the film will work against it. As a result, it’s bound to struggle at the Box – Office turnstiles.
