Bollywood’s Jailhouse Rock: 2 Films on Music Behind Bars

Will Yash Raj Films’ ‘Qaidi Band’ have an advantage over ‘Lucknow Central’.

After Rock On!! actor and singer Farhan Akhtar seemed all excited about his next musical-drama Lucknow Central. The premise of the film was interesting - it revolved around a man from UP, who wants to form a music band but gets falsely accused and jailed for murder. He then goes on to create a band with other inmates in the prison in Lucknow where he is lodged.

In an industry that’s not really known for being out-of-the-box or innovative with its storyline, Lucknow Central promised to be different. But that was until Yash Raj Films put out their trailer of Qaidi Band yesterday. As the title suggests, the film is about a music group formed in jail and it has two newcomers - Aadar Jain and Anya Singh heading its cast.

So there was good reason why all news about Habib Faisal directed Qaidi Band was kept under wraps till now.

And it's a wrap #LucknowCentral @EmmayEntertain @FarOutAkhtar pic.twitter.com/MBOdXivPYI

— Ranjit Tiwari (@ranjit_tiwari) April 24, 2017

Produced by Nikkhil Advani’s Emmay Entertainment, Lucknow Central is directed by debutant Ranjit Tiwari. Apart from Farhan, the film also stars Gippy Grewal, Inaamulhaq, Diana Penty and Rajesh Sharma, some of who would be members of the unlikely music band in prison. The film’s shoot was wrapped up in April and is scheduled for release on 15 September.

But Yash Raj Films wants to steal their thunder by releasing their film Qaidi Band a almost a month in advance - on 25 August.

Also releasing on 25 August is the big budget action packed A Gentleman featuring Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez. But YRF will be sticking to this date despite competition at the box-office to bring out their film before Lucknow Central.

Qaidi Band is aimed at a younger audience and the film’s trailer looks promising. If the Habib Faisal film clicks with the audience, will cinema-goers be interested in returning to theatres to watch yet another story of jail inmates making music? That’s the big question that must be giving sleepless nights to the producers of Lucknow Central. Will Viacom 18 blink and postpone the release of their film after YRF’s surprise move? Watch this space.