Nana says haan to nautanki

Anil Sharma and Nana Patekar on the film’s set

Only months after the stupendous success of Gadar 2: The Katha Continues (2023), Anil Sharma had started shooting his next, Journey, and hoped to wrap it up by March-end. Sure enough, the Nana Patekar-led film is now gearing up for its final schedule that will take place in Mumbai. Considering the father-son relationship drama is largely set in Uttar Pradesh, we hear the team will film a nautanki song - a folk art that has its origins in north India - during this leg. Besides Patekar, it will feature Kushboo Sundar and Utkarsh Sharma, who play his on-screen wife and son respectively.

The drama also stars Kushboo Sundar and Utkarsh Sharma

Currently, a set reflecting the vibrant mood of Varanasi is being built in a north Mumbai studio for the dance number. A source from the film's creative team shares, "The final schedule will begin on March 20. Over those 15 days, Anil sir wants to shoot some talkie portions featuring the primary cast, and the nautanki song. Mithoon has composed a foot-tapping track, keeping the sounds of the folk art in mind, while production designer Muneesh Sappel is designing the set. Since the folk song relies heavily on dance, Anil sir's brief to choreographer Shabina Khan was to imagine it as a bright and colourful number, capturing the spirit of Varanasi."

Journey's narrative spans three cities - Varanasi, Shimla and Mumbai. While the first schedule was shot in real locations of the Uttar Pradesh city, the unit then had a 25-day leg in Shimla in January. After the Mumbai stint is complete, the filmmaker will dive into post-production in order to ready the movie for the last quarter of 2024. The source adds, "The aim is to release the movie on a festival weekend in October or November." For Anil, his first collaboration with Patekar is the highlight. The filmmaker says, "All I can say is that he is an extraordinary actor who is completely involved in the film. For six months, he has only been thinking about Journey and nothing else. He loves to discuss everything [about the scene in question] before, but on set, there is no discussion about the movie."