Sriram Raghavan on directing Dharmendra in Ikkis, “When he heard the story, he was extremely excited”

Legendary actor Dharmendra recently passed away at the age of 89. Today happens to be his 90^th birth anniversary. The late actor’s last film Ikkis is all set to release this month on the 25^th. Sriram Raghavan, the director of the movie, got talking about directing Dharmendra in his last movie.

Sriram, yours is the last film that Dharam ji worked on. So, I think it's very important. I mean, it was important anyway, but now it's acquired a new sense of relevance

Yeah, I worked with him earlier in Johnny Gaddar. And that he regarded as one of his favourite films in recent times. We had a fun times shooting that. And now Ikkis.

How different was he?

I mean, he was still the same affectionate Dharam ji but how different was the experience? He was even more hungry because Johnny Gaddar was a story where he was part of an ensemble cast and he had a terrific group of co-actors. And here in Ikkis, he has a very substantial role.

I remember his excitement when he signed Ikkis

When he heard the story, he was extremely excited, he connected very much with the story. I approached Dharam ji a few years back, actually, because after that COVID happened.

You started Ikkis with Varun Dhawan in it?

Yes because of the delay, Varun didn’t fit in age-wise. I mean, the soldier Arun Khetrapal was martyred at 21. Agastya is the perfect fit. His performance will surprise everybody.

Dharam ji was there even during Varun Dhawan, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, what happened is when this subject came up, I said, this would be a wonderful role for him. And I immediately called him and because he used to keep telling me, let's do something, let's do something. And he had a lot of unused energy. He wanted me to remake The Bridges of Madison County. But I'm not a remake person. So, when I got this chance, I offered Ikkis. Then because of the delays, he used to keep asking, are you doing it? Are you still doing it with me? And all that. So, of course, I promised him, we'll start the film as soon as we can. And then we luckily began in October 2023.

Do you remember the first day of shooting with him?

The first schedule was around him. And yeah, and so I mean, he was a little older. But still the same energy and enthusiasm as Johnny Gaddar. He used to go over the scenes patiently with us, rehearse with all the time. There were a lot of new actors in the film also. And when he was not shooting, he was telling us stories and anecdotes. And reciting poems. In fact, we used one of his poems in our film.

To his fans, what do you say? Are they going to be happy with what he has done?

I think so. Because, I mean, I'm actually quite blessed to have been, to have worked with him twice. I spent a considerable amount of time with him. Luckily, it's a substantial role and he's a wonderful actor and this will show his progress once again, you know. I am very happy with his role, but sad that he couldn’t see the entire film.

It seems he was very attached to Agastya

Yes, Agastya and Dharam ji became very close. Dharam ji looked after Agastya on the set like his own grandson. I mean, also because Agastya is Mr. Bachchan's grandson. So, there was also that sense of bonding between the two families. Generations and so on.

Ikkis was memorable on many counts

It was a wonderful experience here. What do I say? We went to so many locations. It was not an easy shoot, you know. We were shooting in all locations; Lucknow and then Punjab and a lot of places. Pune, he came there. He loved the studio. In fact, I sent him the trailer, but before that, at the dubbing, I had met him last in October.

Did Dharam ji see the trailer?

Trailer, I don't know whether he saw because I think by then he was very unwell. But I showed him 60-70 percent of the film.

And?

He was very moved. And I told him I would soon show him the entire film with the background music, etc. Who would have thought that he would leave us so suddenly?

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Ikkis director Sriram Raghavan reveals, “Dharmendra had seen 70% of the film; regret he couldn’t watch final product”; recalls his first meeting during Johnny Gaddaar: “I wondered, ‘He was MP and I was offering him a gangster film. What would he think?’”

More Pages: Ikkis Box Office Collection

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