Pushpendra Nath Misra: I call Lucknow the Paris of India

It is now 32 years that writer-filmmaker Pushpendra Nath Misra left Lucknow for work. Yet, the filmmaker says he has been “carrying Lucknow” with him everywhere he goes and keeps finding ways to reconnect with his city. His debut OTT series Taj Mahal 1989 (2020) was shot in Lucknow and his upcoming series is also set here.

“There is a special rootedness about Lucknow that travels everywhere. That’s the reason so many projects are being shot here. I call Lucknow the Paris of India. That’s because in Paris, you can shoot a period film and just by changing a bit, you can lend a touch of modernity to the same subject. Lucknow shares a similar legacy as it carries both old-world charm and modernity too,” he says on his visit to Fever FM office in Lucknow.

“We have been shooting in Lucknow since 2007, when hardly any film shootings took place here. But we knew its potential which is now being tapped. I have also directed a short film and some TV commercials here. Some of those like the RBI one and about private life insurance ‘Gabbar Singh’ became very popular,” the filmmaker says.

Ghoomketu (2020) is a UP heartland story and we wanted to shoot here but logistically we shot it near Varanasi,” tells the director.

“The richness of this city got embedded in me during my formative years. Ismein tehzeeb hai, nafasat hai aur dabang sheher bhi hai! I joined the National Institute of Design (NID) in 1991 but I have been carrying my city with me. Mere ghar aur office bhi ek mini-Lucknow hi hai. My company partner and production designer Sonali Bhatia, who is also from this city, says there are many worlds of stories that exist in Lucknow,” he says.

Recalling how he shot in Lucknow even during the pandemic, he says: “Those were very tough days (March-April 2021) and so many of us tested positive. We shot Choona in Lucknow, but we have not given the city a name. It could be anywhere!”

Mishra has also completed a series Mr Saxena with Jimmy Shergill.

“We shot it in Bhopal, and it is a story of a cricket coach, first love (passion) and second innings! We have two OTT series and two feature films on the story board which we want to make for the theatre. The current scenario of cinema is little depressing, but I hope films audience come to theatre for interesting stories and for having intelligent entertainment.”