Set to release on January 1st is the Sriram Raghavan-directed war drama Ikkis starring Agastya Nanda, Jaideep Ahlawat, Sikander Kher, introduces Simar Bhatia, and features the late Dharmendra in his last role. It is the true story of the youngest Param Vir Chakra awardee, a hero who was only 21 and became eternal – Second Lt. Arun Khetarpal.
Let’s set the scene with the trailer
Sriram Raghavan, speaking to The Hindu, gave insight into the film: “It’s set in two timelines. One is 1971, when the battle was fought, and the other is 2001, when Arun’s 80-year-old father, who also served the Indian army during the British period, goes back in time to Pakistan as part of the cultural exchange that the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee started, to resolve the conflict after the Kargil War. During this twin-track diplomacy phase, getting the visas became easier. When the senior Khetarpal, born in undivided India, received an invitation from his college in Sargodha, he returned to see if his house still existed. In that journey, he meets a certain Pakistani army person who gives him an insight into his son’s courage and what happened on the battlefront on December 16, barely two months after he turned 21. Arun didn’t even complete his training as a young officer. After one month of rigorous training, he was considered good enough to be in the thick of action. So his story and his father’s story connect and make a lot of cinematic sense to me. I mean, this is a moving human story. It can be set in any conflict zone, between any two countries.“
Talking in a recent interview about Ikkis, the star of the film, Agastya Nanda, who by the way is Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson, spoke about playing a real-life character on reel, “Since we were portraying a real-life hero, there isn’t much room for improvisation. We had to kind of go off of what factual knowledge we knew about him, about the events he went through. And there was a lot of emphasis on being as authentic as we could. Having said that, there wasn’t so much document on what he was like as a personality. So, maybe there we were allowed to explore a bit more, but still try to stay true to the nature of who he was.”
We also can share some thoughts from the esteemed actor Dharmendra. Subhash K Jha spoke with Dharmendra about being part of this film. Full of praise for the director, he said, “I worked with Sriram in Johnny Gaddar and now Ikkis. He is a very gifted director. He knows what he is doing.”
He also added, “It is a very emotional experience for me. To do Ikkis is my way of paying a tribute to India’s armed forces. I had played a soldier in Ramanand Sagar’s Lalkar many years ago. I felt so proud to be in uniform.”
Coming to the music, Agastya Nanda revealed in an earlier interview that it plays a huge part in telling the tale of this intense film, “Each track feels deeply emotional and purposeful. The music doesn’t just support the film, it becomes a part of the characters, and that’s what makes this album so close to my heart.”
So far, we see exactly what he means and wanted to share the music videos that have been released to get you ready to experience Ikkis.
As a bonus, we also have a special message from the stars of the film
So, what does the young actor hope the audiences see when they watch Ikkis, “I don’t want to hold any expectations. I feel we tried to make the best film we could. It’s up to the audiences whether they feel it is a good film or not, but I feel deeply satisfied with the amount of effort we put into it. I think there was no shortcut in trying to make this film. So, I hope, hopefully, fingers crossed, people enjoy it and feel deeply inspired by it.”
A Maddock Films production, Ikkis hits the big screen on January 1st.
