Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda is gearing up for his next film Ikkis which is being directed by Sriram Raghavan. The film was announced at the Prime Video event. Ikkis also stars the legendary Dharmendra and Jaideep Ahlawat. Well, to increase the excitement Agastya Nanda shared a new photo on his social handle.

Taking to his Instagram stories, Agastya Nanda shared a photo in which he is seen wearing a white shirt and sitting on a brown chair. On the chair, it is written 21 which in Hindi translated Ikkis. Earlier, Sriram Raghavan stated that Ikkis would not feature a fictionalised version of Arun Khetarpal’s story. He underlined that the movie would avoid a simplistic or too heroic narrative like a children’s comic. Furthermore, the focus will not be on Arun Khetarpal’s childhood. Instead, Ikkis will focus on a young officer who made the ultimate sacrifice just after turning 21. The story dives into the poignant journey from youth to adulthood.

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The film claims to be a spectacular production that explores the coming-of-age tale of Arun Khetarpal, the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra. In his latest interview, Sriram Raghavan revealed that this film is unlike his previous ones since he wanted to take a ‘break’ from thrillers.

Speaking with the Indian Express, Sriram Raghavan shared, “It is a story I connected with and liked. Parts of it are very emotional, it also has battle sequences and action in the typical sense of the word. Hopefully, we have tried and done it differently. It is a war film, and it is a drama. It was a break from the kind of movies I was doing, and I wanted that, so that the next time I am doing a thriller, I feel fresh. That there is no baggage.”

Reportedly, Varun Dhawan was earlier cast as the lead, Arun Khetarpal, but the decision to rope in Agastya Nanda came later. According to a source quoted by Bollywood Hungama, the reason behind replacing Varun was the “The age factor.” The film is based on Arun Khetarpal, a Param Vir Chakra-winning soldier who died while defending our country at the age of 21. The source mentioned that Varun is about 35 years old and hence does not correspond to the role. The source added, “When Ikkis was announced three years ago, Sriram thought he would pull it off with Varun. But now everyone felt the actor playing Arun Khetarpal must be younger. Agastya is just the right age to play Arun Khetarpal.”