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The story of Second Lieutenant PVC Arun Khetarpal is one of honour, bravery and sacrifice. His story is now being brought to life by filmmaker Sriram Raghavan and production house Maddock Films with the film Ikkis (Twenty-One). Arun will be played by newcomer Agastya Nanda, who will be making his theatrical debut. He will be joined by another debutante, actor Simar Bhatia, and the trailer for the film has been released. Agastya was first seen in Netflix’s The Archies.
The makers of the film announced the trailer’s launch on social media as well, asking the audience to share their brave stories from when they were 21. The caption of the social media post read, “Woh Ikkis ka tha, Ikkis ka hi rahega (He was 21 years old, and he shall ever remain the same age).” The trailer shows you a glimpse of Arun’s journey, starting from his days as a cadet in the National Defence Academy, where he took his squadron, Foxtrot, to sporting glory as the captain.
We also see veteran actor Dharmendra, who is playing the role of Lt Col (later Brigadier) M L Khetarpal, Arun’s father. It seems that the film will be a compilation of stories told by Dharmendra’s character, as he wishes to discover why his son ignored a direct order and charged straight into action.
After completing his training at the National Defence Academy, Arun went on to the Indian Military Academy and was later assigned to the 17 Poona Horse regiment. A tank commander, Khetarpal made the ultimate sacrifice during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. During the battle of Basantar, Khetarpal’s regiment pushed through a minefield in order to provide armour support to a separate regiment. Here Khetarpal’s heroics took him straight into the Pakistani attack, where he destroyed 10 tanks before being shot and killed.
Bachchan Family shows support
Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan who are Agastya’s grandfather and uncle respectively, congratulated him on the release of the trailer. Amitabh wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Agastya! I held you in my hands as soon as you were born. A few months later, I held you again in my hands and your soft fingers reached out to play with my beard. Today you play in theatres all over the world. You are special. All my prayers and blessings to you. May you ever bring glory to your work and the greatest pride for my family.”
Directed by Sriram Raghavan of Badlapur fame, the cast of Ikkis includes Agastya Nanda, Dharmendra, Jaideep Ahlawat and Simar Bhatia. It’s releasing in December 2025.
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