The role of Gayatri Kashyap was first offered to Kriti Sanon, who walked out after the prep. Firefighting the situation, producer Nikkhil Advani then called Diana, who immediately said yes to the film after a reading with director Ranjit Tiwari. `I didn't think about who was offered the film before me, I'm grateful I landed a part I felt strongly about. It worked out well for everybody` she added.
When asked about the long break after her debut in Cocktail (2012), Diana responded by saying `It's funny when people ask me if I was on a break. Even between shooting the two, I had two-three months of prep. I didn't want to end up playing Meera again and again, with a different name but in a same film set-up. I don't chase numbers, my choices are quality driven. I didn't want to just sign stuff, it's not my style`.
Quiz her on her co-star and she says, `During the shoot, I noticed just how real and subtle Farhan is. He underplayed his character just right. It was an interesting learning experience to watch him and other talented actors like Ronit Roy, Gippy Grewal, Inaamulhaq and Deepak Dobriyal, who were receptive to each other.` Well, we can't wait for Diana to be back in action!
Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Emmay Entertainment, Lucknow Central stars Farhan Akhtar, Diana Penty, Ronit Roy, Deepak Dobriyal, Gippy Grewal, Rajesh Sharma and Inaamulhaq. Directed by Ranjit Tiwari, the film releases on 15th September 2017.