{"id":214991,"date":"2026-01-01T14:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/214991\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T14:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:32:10","slug":"sriram-raghavan-on-casting-agastya-nanda-in-ikkis-after-initially-considering-varun-dhawan-everyone-felt-the-actor-playing-arun-khetarpal-must-be-younger-bollywood-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/214991\/","title":{"rendered":"Sriram Raghavan on casting Agastya Nanda in Ikkis after initially considering Varun Dhawan, \u201cEveryone felt the actor playing Arun Khetarpal must be younger\u201d : Bollywood News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> <\/p>\n

The verdict is out. With Ikkis,\u00a0a new star is born. Agastya Nanda, though of impeccable pedigree, has none of his grandparents Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, nor his uncle Abhishek Bachchan\u2019s personality traits.<\/p>\n

\"Sriram<\/p>\n

Sriram Raghavan on casting Agastya Nanda in Ikkis after initially considering Varun Dhawan, \u201cEveryone felt the actor playing Arun Khetarpal must be younger\u201d<\/p>\n

Agastya follows his own music and delivers a symphonic flourish with a performance that is deeply lyrical and metre-specific.<\/p>\n

Director Sriram Raghavan said that he instinctively knew Agastya was right to play the martyred soldier. Ever since\u00a0Varun\u00a0Dhawan was seen to be missing from the star cast of\u00a0Sriram\u00a0Raghavan\u2019s war matryr’s bio-pic\u00a0Ikkis, there has been considerable speculation on whether\u00a0Varun has fallen out with producer Dinesh Vijan or director Raghavan or both.<\/p>\n

Putting all speculation to rest Sriram said, \u201cIt\u2019s nothing like that. Varun\u2019s relations have not changed with either Dinesh or me. It is the age factor which played villain. The Param Vir Chakra winning soldier Arun Khetarpal died defending our country at 21. Varun\u00a0is now 37-38. So, chronologically they don\u2019t\u00a0match. When\u00a0Ikkis\u00a0was first announced five years ago,\u00a0I thought we would pull it off with Varun. But when we were ready to film, everyone felt the actor playing Arun Khetarpal\u00a0must\u00a0be younger.\u00a0Agastya\u00a0is just the right age to play Arun Khetarpal. Besides that, Agastya is hugely talented, as you can see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read: From Agastya Nanda to Dharmendra: 5 actors playing real-life characters in Ikkis<\/a><\/p>\n

More Pages: Ikkis Box Office Collection<\/a> , Ikkis Movie Review<\/a>
BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES<\/p>\n

Catch us for latest Bollywood News<\/a>, New Bollywood Movies<\/a> update, Box office collection<\/a>, New Movies Release <\/a>, Bollywood News Hindi<\/a>, Entertainment News<\/a>, Bollywood Live News Today<\/a> & Upcoming Movies 2026<\/a> and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n