Farhan's tryst with claustrophobia The actor used to run for fresh air while shooting in confined space for his new movie

The jack of many trades, Farhan Akhtar had to overcome a physiological barrier while shooting of his upcoming film Lucknow Central. During the shoot, Farhan and the rest of the cast had to be confined to four walls at all times. Farhan and his inmates, in fact started experiencing claustrophobia and felt as if they were in a real prison.

“Most of the films I have worked on have been shot at outdoor locations. Lucknow

Central was a different experience for me in itself. Shooting at a set that is constructed to resemble a very real prison has its own psychological effects. During the intensive and long schedule that lasted for over a month, we would shoot between 8 to 12 hours per day being majorly confined within the four walls during the shoot. Stepping out of those walls to get some air was actually a relief for us and this entire shoot got us thinking about the people who do not have the choice to come out at all,” shares Farhan.

The cast of Lucknow Central faced a strange set of challenges while shooting the film. A twoacre set, resembling the real Lucknow Central Jail, was erected over a span of three months at a suburban studio in Mumbai.

The actor cum filmmaker also talked about the emergence on content driven cinema. “Eventually, if the story is not good wherever it is set, be it a small town, big city or foreign locations, the film won’t work. If you want to be inspired from something or want to console yourself then the only thing is the age is of content driven films. When we think of content or try to borrow content from other nations, think of what’s happening there, that are not our stories. So if we want to focus on content then we should focus on our stories, our heroes, our issues and that’s what is happening right now. A lot of stories are created on our people, be it in small towns or anywhere, but success is not guaranteed”.

Farhan, who is known to be a multi-faceted personality as he juggles many creatives roles from being an actor, writer, director, producer to being a social activist will be seen playing the role of Kishen Mohan Girhotra in Nikhil Advani’s Lucknow Central. The film will have the actor slip into the role of an under trial who gets wrongfully accused of murder.