Agastya Nanda is very excited about playing war martyr Arun Khetarpal in Ekkis. He needs time to prepare to play the Param Vir Chakra winning war martyr.The shooting won’t start until September 2023 as director Sriram Raghavan wants to shoot the war epic in a particular weather and light . This gives Agastya to prepare for the role.
Sriram doesn’t want Ekkis to be just another bio-epic. He wants it to be reflective of the soldier’s personality.For Sriram’s Andha Dhun Ayushmann Khurrana had to learn to play the piano, even if it was just three musical pieces. Agastya has to work a lot harder to look convincing.He must go on location, meet other soldiers and Arun Khetarpal’s family. He needs to understand the language of a soldier. The agility and the alertness , to begin with.
If a civilian were to climb into a battle tank he would probably need a chair . Agastya has to jump into the tank as if he belonged in it.
The director and his team also need to source the artillery , tanks and other battle artillery from the 1970s.
All in all, Agastya Nanda’s sophomore film will be a lot tougher to pull off than his debut film The Archies which was a breeze.