Sriram Raghavan Reveals THIS Reason For Replacing Varun Dhawan With Agastya Nanda in Ikkis

Sriram Raghavan is basking under the success of his recently released film Merry Christmas. The mystery thriller starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi has been getting immense love from fans. Well, the ace director is now heading towards his next project titled Ikkis. Earlier, it was reported that Agastya Nanda had replaced Varun Dhawan but no reason was cited. And now the Merry Christmas director has revealed it.

Talking to PTI, the director said, “Initially, it had Varun Dhawan, and then after the pandemic, we had a chat about how he won’t suit (the part). Opening up about the movie that is based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal PVC, he said, “It is a bigger production; there will be tank battles and all those things that happen in a war film. But it is also a human story; it’s a drama, a coming-of-age kind of a thing.”

Sriram Raghavan also clarified that Ikkis will not present a fictionalised rendition of Arun Khetarpal’s life story. He emphasised that the film would steer clear of a simplistic or overly heroic narrative akin to children’s comics. Moreover, the focus will not dwell on Khetarpal’s childhood. Instead, Ikkis will center on the young officer who made the ultimate sacrifice shortly after reaching the age of 21. The narrative delves into the poignant transition from youth to adulthood, with an intriguing event unfolding 30 years later.

Agastya made his acting debut with The Archies. The film was released on Netflix last month. The film also starred Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan and Boney Kapoor’s daughter Khushi Kapoor.

Talking about Varun Dhawan, he was last seen in Bawaal with Janhvi Kapoor. The actor’s performance was loved by everyone. And now he is gearing up for Citadel with Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Samantha and Varun took to their Instagram handles to share photos of themselves watching the show with makers Raj and Dk. They even added a little note that read, “Finally, we got to watch something…And we are like .”

Directed by Raj and DK, Citadel is the Indian adaptation of the International series of the same name which was created by the director duo, the Russo Brothers. According to strong reports, the actress is performing high-octane action sequences in the film along with Varun Dhawan.