Sriram Raghavan reveals why Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda replaced Varun Dhawan in Ikkis: ‘We had a chat about how he won’t suit the part’ | Hindi Movie News – Times of India

Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan, who is currently receiving rave reviews for his recently released film Merry Christmas starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, opened up about Amitabh Bachchan‘s grandson Agastya Nanda replacing Varun Dhawan in his upcoming film Ikkis, which also stars Dharmendra in a pivotal role. The movie is based on the life of the youngest Param Vir Chakra recipient Arun Khetarpal.
Sriram recently told the media that Ikkis will not be the Amar Chitra Katha version of Khetarpal’s life story. He said that the movie does not delve into a nostalgic portrayal of his childhood experiences but it revolves around a young officer who met his martyrdom merely two months after celebrating his 21st birthday.
The filmmaker then broke his silence on Agastya, son of columnist Shweta Bachchan Nanda and entrepreneur Nikhil Nanda, being the ideal choice to play Khetarpal. Initially, Varun was set to headline the film. After the pandemic, Sriram and Varun had a chat about how he won’t suit the part.

Sriram revealed that they had signed Agastya before The Archies because they wanted a new and fresh boy who was as good-looking and tall as Arun Khetarpal. He also added that Agastya is currently undergoing training for his role and they will start shooting with him in February.

The director also talked about Dharmendra, who is playing Arun’s father in the film. He said that the veteran actor has a superb role in Ikkis and they have also shot a bit of the film. “When Arun died at the age of 21, his father was 51 year old or so, and in the year 2000 his father was in his early 80s,” he added.