Shooting of Raid stalled in Lucknow

Itishree.Misra@timesgroup.com

The shooting of Ajay Devgn-starrer '

Raid

' was stalled in Lucknow on Friday owing to the owners of

Jahangirabad Palace

denying permission to shoot there at the last moment. "We had prepared to shoot a sequence at the Jahangirabad Palace in Hazratganj with actor Saurabh Shukla yesterday. But at the last moment, the owner of the palace Sameer Yadav, told us we couldn't shoot there. The reason given to us was that Raja saheb Mohammed Jamal Rasul Khan was expecting some guests hence the palace was not available for shooting," informs a source from the Kumar Mangat Pathak film unit.
The palace facade and interiors were to be shown as the Prime Minister and Finance Minister's offices in the film.
Sameer Yadav, the heir to Raja Jahangirabad, confirming the news says, ":Yes, Kumar Mangat ji was supposed to shoot here yesterday and today but at the last moment we had to tell them to look for some other place as Raja saheb had some guests over at the palace and didn’t want any disturbance during their stay. Now, I believe the unit will shoot here sometime next month."
A lot of films have been shot at Jahangirabad Palace including Salman Khan's 'Dabangg 2' and Saif Ali Khan's 'Bullett Raja' in the past and the building has been a sought after venue for film shoots.
With no place to shoot at on Friday, Kumar Mangat's team spent the better part of the day looking for an alternate venue to shoot at. The day was declared as rest for the film crew instead of Sunday, as was originally planned, while actor Saurabh Shukla cooled his heels in the hotel.