On November 24, just two weeks before his 90th birthday, veteran superstar Dharmendra breathed his last. The He-Man of Bollywood passed away due to age related illnesses at his Mumbai home. The news of his demise broke millions of hearts, leaving his family and fans devastated. Before departing for his heavenly abode, Dharam Paaji shot his final film Ikkis. Directed by Sriram Raghavan and co-produced by Dinesh Vijan and Binny Padda, the film also starring Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda and Akshay Kumar’s niece Simar Bhatia is set to release on December 25. Ahead of the same, Agastya fondly remembered Dharam Paaji recently.
Team Ikkis with Dharmendra and Agastya Nanda
This week, the team of Ikkis came together for the launch event of the film’s first song Sitaare. Helmed by Arijit Singh, the track is a soulful romantic number starring Agastya Nanda and his onscreen lady love Simar Bhatia. During the launch event, remembering his co-star and onscreen father Dharmendra, Agastya shared, “You know for me it’s very emotional because Dharam ji worked with all generations of my family. He worked with my great grandfather, grandfather and I had the privilege to share screen space with him. As sir said, it’s an honour, a huge privilege and I am extremely sad that he couldn’t see the love he deserves. It is emotional for all of us.”
Also starring Jaideep Ahlawat, Sikander Kher, Deepak Dobriyal and Rahul Dev, Ikkis follows the story of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, the posthumous recipient of India’s highest military decoration the Param Vir Chakra, his life and eventually his martyrdom in the Battle of Basantar during the 1971 India Pakistan War. Agastya portrays the role of Arun Khetarpal in the film, who attained martyrdom at the age of 21, whereas Dharam Paaji will be seen as Arun’s father Brigadier ML Khetarpal (Retd.). Simar, on the other hand, will be seen as Kiran, Agastya’s onscreen love interest. Ikkis marks Simar’s Bollywood debut and Agastya’s theatrical debut after his first film The Archies (2023), which took the digital route.