Director Umesh Shukla’s next on public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam

The director of Oh My God and 102 Not Out, Umesh Shukla, has wrapped up his next, Aankh Micholi just before the nationwide lockdown, and the project is currently locking the final edit. “We shot for around 15 days in Switzerland, followed by a 40-day schedule in Punjab. We are lucky to have completed the film just in time,” admits Umesh who ensures to weave a social message into the narrative. “This one talks of family values, it’s a blend of magic and logic. My films are clean and devoid of darkness because I want families to enjoy them.”

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Talking more in details he says, “Imagine DDLJ as an out-and-out comedy and you get Aankh Micholi,” he quips. It movie features Abhimanyu Dassani and Mrunal Thakur, produced by Sony Pictures Films India with Umesh’s partner, Ashish Wagh, reunites him with Paresh Rawal after Oh My God. “I started doing backstage work for his plays. Paresh bhai liked my temperament and made me an assistant director. Then, I acted with him in a couple of plays and finally, I directed him in two-three of them. It’s because of his large heart that I am here,” he says humbly.

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Umesh’s next is a biopic of Ujjwal Nikam who worked on prominent criminal cases and helped prosecute suspects in the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where he was the public prosecutor in Ajmal Kasab’s case. “Yes, my next is on public prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam. The script is almost locked and I will start approaching actors soon, I am very excited,” he asserts, saying that, as a producer too, he will roll with multiple projects by early next year, one of them with Nawazuddin Siddhiqui be directed by Sejal Shah. “It’s an incredible story, you won’t believe it’s true,” he signs off.