Agastya Nanda-starrer Arun Khetarpal biopic will be directed by Sriram Raghavan and also star Dharmendra in a leading role. Arun Khetarpal was martyred in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and was the youngest recipient to receive Param Vir Chakra.
Grandson of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and son of Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Nikhil Nanda, Agastya Nanda will make his Bollywood debut in the much-awaited The Archies. The musical romantic drama, directed by Zoya Akhtar, also marks the debut of Shaha Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, and Boney Kapoor and late Sridevi’s daughter Khushi Kapoor.
The Archies will reportedly release on November 24 on Netflix and now, as per latest reports, even before his debut film comes out, Agastya Nanda will start shooting his second film, which is the biopic of the 1971 Indo-Pak war hero Arun Khetarpal, who was martyred during the Battle of Basantar and was the youngest recipient of Param Vir Chakra at the age 21.
Titled Ikkis, the war drama will be directed by Sriram Raghavan of Andhadhun and Badlapur fame. Even Raghavan will move to Agastya Nanda-starrer before his next film Merry Christmas, starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupthi, releases in theatres on December 15.
A source was quoted telling Pinkvilla, “The Arun Kheterpal biopic has been a passion project for Raghavan, who has been working on it since 2018. After numerous delays over the years, he is finally starting this film with Agastya and Dharam Ji (Dharmendra). They will shoot their major portions together in October and November, following which the makers will head to film the 1971 Indo-Pak war sequences with Agastya. A six-month-long shooting schedule has been planned for this biographical drama.”
Ikkis was initially announced in 2019 with Varun Dhawan, who was worked with Raghavan in the 2015 neo-noir crime drama Badlapur. But as the film got delayed, the director and Varun thought that it would not look authentic if Varun, 36, plays a 21-year-old war hero, and hence, Agastya Nanda, who will turn 23 later this year, was finalised.
READ | Zoya Akhtar reveals how Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor ‘started from scratch’ for The Archies
