After Varun Dhawan's Exit, Sriram Raghavan Reveals Why Agastya Nanda Was His Choice For Ikkis

Sriram Raghavan has been in the news owing to his recently released film Merry Christmas, starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi. The film opened to positive response by the critics and earned ₹ 2.30 crore on Friday in India. Now, just a day after the release, the director has hoped on to his next project Ikkis, starring Agastya Nanda in the lead.

Opening up about why he cast Agastya in Ikkis, the director revealed The Archies actor is a guy who is "refreshingly normal," and he looks the part. Earlier Varun Dhawan was offered the role of Arun Khetarpal in Ikkis, but he backed out owing to the delays due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Agastya Nanda reminded Sriram Raghavan of young Amitabh Bachchan

Speaking to Film Companion, director Sriram Raghavan recalled meeting Agastya for the first time, and he was reminded of a young Amitabh Bachchan from his films like Saat Hindustani (1969) and Anand (1971). He added that the young actor has a certain charm and knows the process of the film.

“He’s a guy who is refreshingly normal and there’s no bells and whistles. I have seen his The Archies and I loved the film, I loved his character and many other characters in the film. So I know he knows the process of the film and now I am looking at diving with him into more subjects,” Sriram added.

How do I play a 21-year-old now?: Reason behind Varun Dhawan backing out from Ikkis

Speaking to PTI, Varun shared the reason why he backed out from Sriram's film based on a war hero Arun Khetarpal. The actor revealed that he was excited to be the part of the film but every very time they tried to start the film, they got hit by a wave. "I was dying to that film but I don't think I can do it anymore because too many things have come up. Sriram also went to his other film. It was just impossible to shoot the film in the pandemic with those many people staging it," the 35-year-old actor said. 

This was not the only reason, why Varun backed out from the project. He said, “Now that things have calmed down, I keep urging Sriram. I've begged him that he should make it with someone else. I might play some other part in it if I have to. My thing is, how do I play a 21-year-old now?” 

When Agastya Nanda first met Sriram Raghavan

Reacting to the director's appreciation, Agastya shared his side of the story when he first met Sriram. Calling it a crazy experience, the actor said that before starting The Archies, he went around introducing himself in the film industry and ask for work. It was then he went to producer Dinesh Vijan's office and asked him for work. Two days after he was called to his office, and that is when he met Sriram for the first time and was offered Ikkis.

Agastya Nanda made his big Bollywood debut with Zoya Akhtar's directorial last year in December. The film also marked the debut of Sridevi-Boney Kapoor's daughter, Khushi Kapoor, Vedang Raina and Yuvraj Menda.