After being accused of murder and awaiting his death penalty, Kishen Mohan Girhotra is compelled by NGO worker Gayatri Kashyap to form a musical band of prisoners to compete at band competition held at the dreaded jail of ‘Lucknow Central’. Kishen befriends and convinces a talented bunch of criminals to form a band that provides them with a purpose and a new lease of life.
Acting
Farhan Akhtar's restrained desperation hits hard.
Direction
Tiwari balances hope and dread in every frame.
Writing
Prison system critique without preachiness.
Director
Ranjit Tiwari
Farhan Akhtar
Kishan Mohan Girhotra
Diana Penty
Gayatri Kashyap
Deepak Dobriyal
Victor Chattopadhyay
Gippy Grewal
Parminder Singh Gill aka Pali
Rajesh Sharma
Purushottam Madan Pandit
Inaamulhaq
Dikkat Ansari
Ronit Roy
Jailer Raja Shrivastava
Ravi Kishan
CM Pawan Singh Chaturvedi
Veerendra Saxena
IG
Manav Vij
Tilakdhari
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based loosely on real-life prison bands in India, particularly Lucknow Central Jail's music rehabilitation program. The film sparked actual policy discussions about prison reform.
Farhan Akhtar learned guitar and performed his own vocals, but the climactic competition song was recorded by the actual inmates' band from Tihar Jail.
IN
