Director Faruk Kabir, who is currently shooting for ‘Khuda Haafiz Chapter II: Agni Pariksha’, says his upcoming film will showcase a yet-undiscovered facet of actor Vidyut Jammwal.

“We are going to see a very intense and nuanced character portrayal from Vidyut Jammwal in ‘Khuda Haafiz Chapter II: Agni Pariksha’. He has worked extremely closely with me on every scene and the buildup of his character throughout the film. He has worked very hard to get into the skin of the character. I think we are going to see a facet of Vidyut that even I haven’t discovered before,” Faruk Kabir said.

What inspired the writer-director to create a second chapter of his 2020 film ‘Khuda Haafiz’?

“Many personal reasons inspired me to write Khuda Haafiz Chapter II. Of course, certain elements of what is socially happening within the fabric of our country, also to a certain degree inspired me to write this film. But Chapter II in many ways is very personal for me because it has a lot of nuances and experiences from my own personal life that I have put into the film,” he said.

Throwing light on how the story progresses in the film’s second chapter, the director said: “Khuda Haafiz Chapter II: Agni Pariksha begins a year later in the life of this couple Sameer and Nargis. It does really test their relationship to great degree and that’s why the title mentions ‘Agni Pariksha’. In many ways this is an ‘Agni Pariksha’ for the couple after the incident that happened to them in Chapter One, how do they deal with the trauma of that incident and how it affects them.”

The film is currently being shot in Lucknow. Talking about the same, Faruk said: “The experience of shooting in Lucknow is always very nice. I really like the city. The more I keep coming to it, the more I keep discovering interesting facets, corners and places about it. Last time we shot for Chapter One here for a brief time but this time of course it’s a much longer schedule and we’ve discovered some locations that people have not shot at before.”

Opening up on the mouthwatering local cuisine, the filmmaker added: “I love the food here. I love going out and eating at different places in Lucknow and keep trying different cuisines. Lucknow has always been interesting to me!”

‘Khuda Haafiz Chapter II: Agni Pariksha’ also features Shivaleeka Oberoi in the lead.