Prolific filmmaker Kunal Kohli is back at what he likes doing best after a long hiatus. His last directorial Phir Se was completed in 2018 and he directed a Telugu film Next Enti, a remake of his hit Hum Tum, in 2018. Nothing after that. Kunal says, “When producer Ajay Rai of JAR productions gave me a chance to direct this very interesting story I said, ‘Why not? Waise bhi main ghar baitha tha COVID ke chalte. We shot the entire film in Lucknow in 21 days during the pandemic.”
Miraculously not a single person from Kunal’s unit contracted COVID-19. “I guess we were blessed. We chose Lucknow because its topography and culture are a lot like Lahore," adds the filmmaker.
Lahore Confidential is the story of an Indian spy played by Richa Chadha in Lahore, who falls in love with a Pakistani poet Arunoday Singh. Kunal can’t wait for the film to premiere on ZEE5 on December 11.
Says Kunal excitedly, “There is so much exciting content being generated for the OTT platform. While I was shooting in Lucknow I would return to my hotel room and watch Hansal Mehta’s Scam 1992 on my laptop. I was hooked! Although I was dead tired every night I had to watch Hansal’s series. When I returned to Mumbai I saw the whole series again. That’s how addictive OTT content can be.”
Image source: IMDb