When you think a film revolving around a prison, the first thing that comes to your mind is Shawshank’s Redemption. And then you think, is Lucknow central “inspired” from SR? Or has it got any inspiration from prison break? But then when you see Lucknow Central, you come to know it’s 100% original. Having said that, let’s just take you through this tour of this fictitious Jail in Mumbai’s Film City.
(Note – We believe every department should be given separate rating and the final rating should be the average of the same)
Plot (3.5 stars): This is one of the best prison break films and will keep you hooked till the end. The plot revolves around a Moradabad resident Kishen Mohan Girhotra (Essayed by Farhan Akhtar), who wrongly gets accused of murder, due to which he lands up in Lucknow Central Jail and gets death penalty. Kishen mets Gayatri Kashyap (Essayed by Diana Penty), who makes a band of prisoners so that they can participate in a band competition.
This is when Kishen becomes friends with Purushottam Pandit, Victor Chattopadhyay, Dikkat Ansari and Parminder Trehan; all of them agree to be a part of the band.
How they plan a musical escape forms the crux of the story. Still, it is lacking in realistic elements which is why it has lost 1.5 points.
Writing (4 Stars) – One of the best parts of the film is its writing; kudos to writers Aseem Arora and Ranjit Tiwari. The story is setup in UP and the situations and dialogues do sound authentic and local. The story is new and different and thus, it’s not much predictable till the interval. Though the second half becomes predictable, there comes the humane part of the story which keeps you stuck to your seats. The screenplay is pacey and makes the film grippy, and hooks you in just 10 mins from the start of the movie. The scenes are small and tight which won’t get you bored or distracted even for a moment. Just one thing which made it lose one star is its filmy end. The writer/director seems to have got carried away with the characters and forgot the logic that it would take years and years to learn any musical instrument, especially for those who have no ear for music.
Cinematography (4 Stars) – No idea who took the call to build the set of a Lucknow Jail, in Mumbai, but it was the duty of the DOP to avoid the mountains behind the jail in long shots. Well, he must have had an option of avoiding the skyscrapers or the mountains and he chose the skyscrapers, LOL. Leaving this point aside, the lighting and shot composition is really good and builds the feel of being in a Jail.
Editing (4.5 Stars) – One of the enjoyable parts of the film is the editing. It’s crisp and stylish and thus, keeps the edge of the seat experience on for a film like this.
Music (2 stars) – The one thing which takes the whole experience of watching this few steps down is the music. What do you need to have a film which involves a band or a singer as the base story? Yes, some kickass music; for instance, take Rock On or Rock Star, or for instance Mithunda’s Disco Dancer. It was the music of these films which made them classics. In the case of Lucknow Central, even 3 music directors couldn’t make it possible. The music doesn’t have a soul and you forget the songs the very moment you step out of the screen.
Performance (3.5 Stars) – Now let’s take this in two parts; the first part is the 3.5 stars which is for all of them except Farhan Akhtar & Ronit Roy. Farhan Akhtar seems to be totally out of place here; he is known for method acting and working out hard for the role, but here, he certainly looks like a first world guy home staying with a librarian of Moradabaad. He doesn’t bring the body language or the accent of a UP guy which makes the character a bit unreal. Ronit Roy did well but again did the same tough antagonistic role what he is doing since Udaan.
Everyone else did very well but the surprise package were Diana Panty and Gippy Grewal. You will like them because you watch the film expecting the least from these two, and they stand tall in their performances.
Direction (4.5 Stars) – The second best thing about the film is the Director who also shares the credit of the writer for first film, Ranjit Tiwari did an impeccable job. The whole film was surely visualised completing all the acts in the mind of the director and hence, one will sail smoothly while watching this film. He is surely a director to look forward to..
Verdict – This is surely a must watch movie in theater. RVCJ’s reviewer Rohit Shukre gives it 3.5 stars on a whole.
