National Award winning filmmaker Sriram Raghavan who is currently receiving a lot of praise for his latest directorial Merry Christmas, starring KatrinaKaif and Vijay Sethupathi, recently opened up about his upcoming film’s lead actor Agastya Nanda. Agastya debuted in films with Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s The Archies and will now start shooting for Sriram’s film Ikkis, which will be based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal PVC.
Sriram said that when he first met Agastya he was reminded of a young Amitabh Bachchan from his films like Saat Hindustani (1969) and Anand (1971) among others and called him “refreshingly normal”.
“When I first met him he reminded me of Amitabh (Bachchan) in Saat Hindustani and Anand. He’s got a certain charm and he looks the part also and I am looking forward working with him. He’s a guy who is refreshingly normal and there’s no bells and whistles. I have seen his The Archies and I loved the film, I loved his character and many other characters in the film. So I know he knows the process of the film and now I am looking at diving with him into more subjects,” Sriram told Film Companion.
DHARMENDRA – AGASTYA NANDA TO STAR IN SRIRAM RAGHAVAN – DINESH VIJAN’S ‘IKKIS’… Post #Badlapur, #NationalAward winning director #SriramRaghavan teams up with #DineshVijan for #Ikkis… Stars #Dharmendra and #AgastyaNanda [grandson of #AmitabhBachchan]. pic.twitter.com/XBRHHTeJDx
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 8, 2022
Reacting to Sriram’s appreciation, Agastya recalled his first meeting with the Andhadhun director. He said, “It was a really crazy experience. I remember when… Before I started The Archies I went around introducing myself to a lot of people because I don’t have social media people don’t know what I look like really. So, I remember going to Dinoo (filmmaker and producer Dinesh Vijan) sir’s office and asked him if he had any work and he said that he’ll keep in touch. I was not expecting anything.”
“Two days later I got a call from him and he asked me to come to his office. I was very excited and asked him what it is for and he said, ‘I can’t tell you’, I asked who is it with? And he said, ‘I can’t tell you’. When I arrived, I was sitting at the office really nervous because it was just me fresh into this industry. I was sitting alone in the conference hall… 20-30 minutes pass and then Sriram Raghavan walks in. Then I figured out what the story was and it was with him,” he said.
Agastya also revealed that for the film, he went to Pune to train with military personnel and shared his experience. He said, “Army men’s lifestyle, their discipline, their integrity, I am a fan because I have gone to boarding school so I have had like five percent of what that life is like but going to the regiment and the respect I have for my country and the army now is on another level. So the passion and the drive to do justice to them is through the roof. I really don’t want to let them down, because it is beautiful what they do for us and so selfless.”
Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal PVC was an Indian military officer and a posthumous recipient of India’s highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakra, during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Along with Agastya, Ikkis also stars Dharmendra. The film, produced by Maddock Films, will go on floors in February.
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