By: Mohnish Singh
Varun Dhawan, who was last seen in Coolie No. 1 (2020), has a few exciting projects in the pipeline. While he has already wrapped up Amar Kaushik’s horror-comedy Bhediya with Kriti Sanon, he is presently busy with Dharma Productions’ Jug Jugg Jeeyo co-starring Kiara Advani, Neetu Kapoor, and Anil Kapoor.
The latest we hear is that Dhawan is now gearing up to begin work on his much-awaited film Ekkis, which reunites him with acclaimed filmmaker Sriram Raghavan after the neo-noir action thriller film Badlapur (2015). The ambitious project is based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner of Maddock Films. Ekkis will mark Dhawan’s third outing with Vijan after Badlapur and the upcoming film Bhediya.
A source in the know informs an entertainment portal that Ekkis is set to go before cameras in February 2022. “This is among the most ambitious projects of Varun’s career and the actor has been in prep more all through the last two years, learning more and more about the traits of an army officer. As Jug Jugg Jeeyo nears completion, Varun is excited to slip into the first biopic of his career,” says the source.
From late November, Dhawan is expected to begin acting workshops with Raghavan, which would include body language and diction training apart from learning different forms of war-based action.
Ekkis was initially set to begin production in October 2020. However, the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic threw wrenches into the works. “They did not want to compromise with the vision in any circumstances as a war hero like Arun Kheterpal deserves a fitting tribute. With vaccination drives in full swing and the on-ground scenario getting better by the day, the team of Ekkis is bullish about shooting from early 2022,” the source concludes.
In addition to Bhediya, Jug Jugg Jeeyo, and Ekkis, Varun Dhawan also headlines Sajid Nadiadwala’s Sanki and the Indian spin-off of the Russo Brothers global series, Citadel.
