Inspired by the life of Arun Khetarpal, the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, Ikkis revisits the Battle of Basantar during the 1971 India–Pakistan War. The film, starring Agastya Nanda, Jaideep Ahlawat and Dharmendra, has been widely appreciated for its deeply humane gaze rather than overt displays of chest-thumping nationalism which has become a part of films nowadays. At a recent Vartalaap session hosted by the Screenwriters Association (SWA), director Sriram Raghavan spoke with filmmaker Satyanshu Singh about Ikkis’ journey. The conversation, attended by Charudutt Acharya, Hitesh Kewalya, Anu Singh, and lyricist Raj Shekhar, turned to whether Ikkis had encountered any pushback. Sriram Raghavan on the response to Ikkis Raghavan admitted that the response following the film’s release caught the team off guard. “We were quite baffled, actually, by the response after the film came out,” he said. The filmmaker explained that the script underwent the standard vetting process with the army several years ago, and members of the armed forces were also present during the shoot. When the film was finally shown to …