Farhan-Kriti for Lucknow Central

The actress plays an NGO worker who motivates the convicts of a Lucknow jail.

Mirror (June 4) had earlier informed that Farhan Akhtar will be playing a prisoner in Nikkhil Advani's next production, titled Lucknow Central.

His character starts a band in jail to rediscover pride, selfconfidence and a reason to wake up every morning. Now we have learnt that Kriti Sanon has come on board as the female lead but there is no romantic angle between the duo. She plays an NGO worker who helps the prisoners reconstruct their life in the film. Their relationship is one of mutual respect and being each other's motivational force.

A source close to the development reveals, "Kriti's look in the film will be simple and easy to relate to. Farhan's band will have four other members. So far, Angad Bedi and Deepak Dobriyal have been signed and the team is still looking for two other actors to complete the band. Farhan picks out four jail mates and trains them in music while they are all serving out their sentence. Being part of a band in real life too, Farhan was the obvious choice for the part. The others are raw and untrained but with potential and promise. Farhan as their mentor transforms them into better human beings altogether."

The film will be directed by Advani's assistant Ranjit Tiwari. It will be shot in Lucknow and Mumbai. The prison portions are most likely to be shot on a set. It's likely to kick off by the year end.

Farhan is currently shooting another musical, Rock On 2, in which too he is a part of a band, along with Arjun Rampal, Shraddha Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Prachi Desai and Shashank Arora.