I drew rather a lot from my uncle for ‘Ikkis’ character: Vivaan Shah

Vivaan Shah stated it was a blessing to painting a real-life character like Captain Vijendra Malhotra in filmmaker Sriram Raghavan’s struggle drama ‘Ikkis’ and a major a part of his efficiency was impressed by his uncle, retired Lieutenant Basic Zameeruddin Shah.

Within the critically acclaimed struggle drama, which centres on India’s youngest Param Vir Chakra awardee Arun Khetrapal, who was martyred in the course of the 1971 Indo-Pak struggle, Shah performed his sharp and composed senior officer, Captain Malhotra. His efficiency has been lauded for providing a counterpoint to Khetrapal’s uncooked depth as a battle-ready greenhorn officer.

Shah, son of veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, stated he has at all times been enamoured by his uncle’s dynamic and formidable persona.

“I based mostly the character, an excessive amount of it, on my father’s older brother, Lieutenant Basic Zameeruddin Shah, who truly fought within the Battle of Longewala. He’s a really dynamic persona. And I actually kind of drew on that an awesome deal and in addition from the real-life Captain Vijendra Malhotra, who himself was a very charismatic particular person. I by no means, in fact, obtained to fulfill him, sadly. However I studied his pictures and the knowledge obtainable,” Shah advised PTI in an interview.

The movie, which not too long ago began streaming on ‘Prime Video’ following its launch in theatres in January, options Agastya Nanda, Dharmendra and Jaideep Ahlawat.

The actor stated that whereas he tried his finest to authentically depict Malhotra in a ‘truthful and sincere’ method, a whole lot of it required him to fill in along with his creativeness. “That is the primary time I’ve actually obtained to play a very dynamic, sensible and funky determine. And that, for me, was an actual blessing. That was one of many nice joys of enjoying Captain Vijay Malhotra,” he stated.

The movie will at all times maintain a particular place in his filmography because it marks his first collaboration with Sriram Raghavan, a filmmaker he has lengthy admired.

But the expertise additionally comes with a remorse: the actor couldn’t meet Dharmendra, his father’s favorite hero, who handed away on the age of 89 in November final 12 months.

Within the movie, Dharmendra portrays Khetarpal’s father, retired Brigadier Madan Lal Khetarpal, who, years after his son’s demise, travels to Pakistan to go to his ancestral village in Sargodha.

“Our storylines didn’t intersect. They virtually happened in two parallel timelines, in a way. And it’s one of many nice regrets of my life that I didn’t get to fulfill Dharmendra ji, who’s one in every of my heroes and who’s additionally a hero for my father as a result of my father grew up watching his movies within the early 60s, from ‘Haqeeqat’ and ‘Phool Aur Pathar’ to so lots of the great movies within the early 60s. Dharmendra ji, to my father, was actually a kind of Herculean determine, a display idol, because it had been,” Shah stated.