Lucknow Central

Tone, Script & Story: It is shown as the movie ends that the story is inspired from true events. It would have been better if the same was conveyed along with the trailer as biographies have their own audience. The story is how an innocent man is convicted of murder of IAS officer, gets jail term, and plans jail escape by forming music band. The further story is if they escape or not and or what term he gets.

I don't know if life in jail is shown well. A person in grip of crime has life of false person. A NGO coming in showing faith providing path to jail members to redeem themselves and getting not one or two but five of them seems abrupt. Here's where story falls week.

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: Ranjit Tiwari shines in his maiden attempt as a director. Screenplay is relaxing, when convicts are made to play music instruments and are left on pay role, everywhere else screenplay goes well with the story (example life in jail). Cinematography was also good.

Music: Music is good. I personally liked the track Rangdaari.

Acting: Acting was good by most of the actors. All actors who do not act in non sense cinema have done well here in this movie as well.

Final Verdict: It is worth a watch [(2/5) (7/10)].

Lucknow Central is a drama movie directed by Ranjit Tiwari and stars Farhan Akthar, Diana Penty, Ronit Roy, Gippy Grewal, Deepak Dobriyal, Rajesh Sharma, Inaamulhaq and Ravi Kishen

This movie could've been an easily forgettable movie but due to some great actors and their skills the movie is atleast watchable.

The plot of the movie is fresh but after seeing the movie I can only say that the movie has only lived it's life because of the tons of talent being inducted as the movie is neither well executed nor memorable.

Acting is probably the most strongest point with Farhan Akthar portraying the role of a small town wanna be singer looking to start his own band got framed into murder which he didn't commit. Ronit Roy in his role of a tough jailor was good but considering his talent he could've better. Deepak Dobriyal in his fake bengali accent impresses. Sharma, Grewal and Kishan will effortlessly make you laugh. Diana Penty probably was either crushed under the weight of these heavyweights or was a victim of a poorly written role.

The most sad part of the movie is although being a movie on music none of the song apart from the remaked Kavaan Kavaan hadn't made any impact.

Screenplay of the movie is average and could've been made more crisp and fast paced. The length of the movie could also been trimmed by atleast 20 minutes. Climax of the movie seems to be written and completed in hurry as you will feel something is missing from the end of the movie.

The movie can be watched once and yes the movie has some engaging and cherishing movement.

Lucknow central is a very well directed film though the storyline is very thin, the movie very quickly escalates and takes you right into it but then that is that. Next 2 hrs the movie remains with the same pace until the climax sequence again which will have you at the edge of the seat.

Pros : Direction, Farhans acting ( one man show ), music ( Meer-e Kharwaan especially), Climax.

Cons : Thin story line, needed more nail biting scenes since its about a JailBreak, too many talented artists did not get the room to do much ( Daina penty was amazing in whatever little she had, Deepak dobriyal, Rajesh sharma ) except Ronit Roy who was fab but his portrayal reminds you of all the films that he acted in till now.

Inspired from true life events, 'Lucknow Central' is at times a sad, and at times, an uplifting story about living your passion even in the worst stage of life. Directed with honesty by Ranjit Tiwari & winningly acted by its cast, this 2017 flop is actually a good effort that went unnoitced.

'Lucknow Central' Synopsis: Kishan (Farhan Akhtar) is wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit & is sent to the Lucknow Central, a dreaded jail. While in prison, he forms a musical band with 4 other inmates, that changes his life forever.

'Lucknow Central', though flawed thanks to its erratic pace, is still an effort that isn't easy to snub. The characters appear real, as does their pain & eventual unity. There is a sense of genuine feeling here. That being said, the pacing plays a spoilsport. The film lacks consistency & the wobbly pace is to be blamed.

Ranjit Tiwari & Aseem Arora's Screenplay is decent, but its impact would've been a lot more had it more crisper & well-paced. Ranjit Tiwari's Direction is satisfactory. Cinematography is good. Editing isn't tight enough. Art & Costume Design are appropriate. The Music offers a few good tunes.

Performance-Wise: Farhan Akhtar does a sincere job. But its Deepak Dobriyal who scores. He's brilliant. Gippy Grewal, Inaamulhaq & Rajesh Sharma lend able support. Ronit Roy is repeating himself. Diana Penty is nice. Ravi Kissen is very entertaining as the slimy minister.

On the whole, 'Lucknow Central' is far from perfect, but its not without its pluses nonetheless.

You can call it a bromance, comedy, musical or whatever but its a prison movie at the end of the day. Almost the whole movie takes place in one setting. There are very few prison movies made and for a good reason, they are very hard to pull off. It's no Shawshank Redemption but for an Indian movie, it was extremely well made and executed. One of my favorite Indian movies now.

Music is great and goes really well with the plot. Not sure if it's songs you'll listen to outside of the movie but in the movie they work brilliantly. I've found myself on YouTube a few times watching the songs again.

Prison movies usually don't have a lot of characters so you have to make them count. Ronit Roy is not doing the usual. Even though he's played a cop/hard-ass a few times, this one was very well played. Not the clichéd part some are describing it as. The scene where his wife calls him is great and very telling. Pay attention to the details. He definitely enhances the movie. The rest of the cast is great too. You'll recognize some faces even if you don't know the names, other than Farhan. Farhan and Deepak especially stand out. Deepak is always great in the few movies I've seen him in.

A must watch in my opinion if you appreciate Indian cinema. This one is a really under-appreciated movie and I think it'll build a fan base over time due to Netflix, etc.