Actor Agastya Nanda, who portrays Param Vir Chakra awardee Arun Khetarpal in his upcoming film Ikkis, says he hopes the film will connect with younger audiences.

Directed by Sriram Raghavan, Ikkis features Nanda as Param Vir Chakra awardee Arun Khetarpal, who was martyred at the age of 21 in the Battle of Basantar in 1971 Indo-Pak war.

During a Mumbai event for the film, Agastya reflected on the extensive preparation that went into Ikkis, saying the cast’s years of training made cantonments feel like home.

“Cantonments have started feeling like home, we’ve been training for three years (for this film). Being here is like a family. For me, the main thing that stood out was how young Arun Khetarpal is, and I would like to address the young kids sitting here. I hope you learn something from the life of Arun Khetarpal,” Agasyta said.

“He was a brave and passionate soldier. If there’s anything that we take away from this film is that, ‘You’re never too young to change the world’. This is mainly for younger people out here. My immense pride and gratitude to those who are part of the Indian army,” he added.

Ikkis marks the second acting project for Agastya, after Netflix’s 2023 teen musical comedy The Archies, directed by Zoya Akhtar.

Discussing the difficulty of filming action scenes, Agastya noted, “When we were shooting action (sequences) for the film, what are the stakes at which you’re fighting, the pressure that a soldier would go through, like it’s so difficult and claustrophobic in the tank.”

Sharing his experience, Raghavan said that he has tried his best to do justice to Arun Khetarpal’s life story. “My journey with this film began seven years back when I first heard the story. In 2019, I went to Chandigarh where I was called on December 16 (death anniversary) to lay a wreath on Arun Khetarpal’s statue. I met so many people who were associated with him.”

“That particular moment, I made a promise to myself, ‘Do this film, man and do as good as we can’. I wanted Arun to help me and somewhere he is being there with us throughout the film. It is not an easy film to make. We were shooting all over north India. Now that the film is over, we’re looking forward to you watching it and reacting to the film,” Raghavan added.

Produced by Dinesh Vijan, the cast of the Ikkis also includes Jaideep Ahlawat, Sikandar Kher and Akshay Kumar's niece Simar Bhatia. Late actor Dharmendra is also part of the ensemble.

Ikkis is set to hit theatres on 25 December.