Varun Dhawan to start shooting for Sriram Raghavan’s Ekkis in September

By: Mohnish Singh

In 2019, Varun Dhawan confirmed that he was set to collaborate with celebrated filmmaker Sriram Raghavan on a film based on the life of the Indian Army officer Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal who was martyred during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.

Taking to Twitter, the actor had written, “Happy birthday to Arun Khetarpal. It was always my dream to play a soldier of INDIA. Sriram Raghavan can’t wait to bring on screen the spectacular tale of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal. Produced by Dinesh Vijan. Hope to make you proud Mukesh Khetarpal and Poona Horse.”

But before the team could roll the camera on the high-profile project, the Coronavirus pandemic hit the entire humanity hard and the makers had to put the project on hold. Once the industry resumed production after lockdown, Varun Dhawan moved on to complete his other projects.

The actor is currently busy shooting for Amar Kaushik's horror-comedy Bhediya. And the latest we hear that he will start work on the Arun Khetarpal biopic, which has been titled Ekkis, towards the end of the third quarter of 2021.

Confirming the same, producer Dinesh Vijan told an entertainment portal that Ekkis requires Varun Dhawan to undergo rigorous training and the film should start at the end of the third quarter of 2021.

“Ekkis is the most ambitious project attempted by Maddock to date. It requires rigorous prep that has already begun. Varun himself will commence prep for two and a half months once he is done with Bhediya and other commitments. Sriram Raghavan is the captain of this grand ship, there is a lot he wants to achieve here. Ekkis should go on floors till the end of the third quarter, and that’s all I can divulge for now.”

Ekkis will reunite Varun Dhawan, Sriram Raghavan and Dinesh Vijan after their 2015 hit Badlapur.