The general consensus about Ikkis, the recently released war drama, is that it’s a surprising entry in the oeuvre of Sriram Raghavan, the maverick filmmaker who had carefully carved his niche as a master of noir with films like Johnny Gaddaar (2007), Andhadhun (2018), and Badlapur (2015). Vivaan Shah, who plays Captain Vijendra Malhotra in the film, assertively disagrees with the notion. He elaborates, “Sriram sir has grown up on genre cinema. The filmmakers he most admires — Samuel Fuller, Anthony Mann, Robert Aldrich, Sam Peckinpah — most of them were World War II combat veterans. They all primarily made B-movies, and eventually, they had a war film in them. From that perspective, Ikkis is a logical extension of Sriram sir’s filmography.”

Vivaan calls Sriram a very inclusive filmmaker who welcomes opinions. “Everyone feels like they’re participating and contributing artistically. You never feel like you’re just doing a job. Sabki creativity jaag jaati hai. (Everyone’s creativity gets an awakening).” This is the first time Vivaan has played a character based on a real-life figure. While describing it as a responsibility, Vivaan recalls, “Sriram sir gave me a lot of material to play with. Vijendra was a brilliant strategist, adept at outwitting the enemy. He was a master of disguise.  There was also a slight eccentric quality to him — how he would take his dog to the battleground, always wear a hat or a red scarf, or do pranks with his regiment. There were a lot of anecdotes about him, which made him such an interesting character.” Vivaan recounts a particular incident that captured the magnitude of it. He recalls, “The first time I saw the entire film, it was at the Army premiere, in the presence of 800 officers. I met many veterans who had served under Captain Vijendra. Imagine them telling me they loved my performance. What could be bigger than that?”

Talking about the depiction of action in Ikkis, Vivaan ruminates on his issues with the ‘spectacle’ movies in contemporary Indian cinema.  He says, “The action in those films is not done artistically; it’s done to bombard the audience. It is artistically dishonest. We are taking all the wrong lessons from Hollywood. These Marvel films and the ilk, mujhe sakht nafrat hai inse (I hate them). They have made cinema into this kind of sensory overload spectacle.” In comparison, Vivaan mentions how the action of Ikkis is artful in its choreography. He elaborates, “Every hit, explosion, or blood splatter — it has a dramatic impact, and a purpose. It’s not there just for effect. Also, it makes you feel a sense of loss and violence.”  Vivaan also underlines why Ikkis is a much-needed movie for current times, as he notes, “The theme and sentiment of the film is about peace, harmony and humanity.”

While films like Coat (2023) and Inn Galiyon Mein (2025) found their share of praise for tackling relevant themes with sensitivity, they didn’t get much attention from the audience.  When we ask him how he deals with such situations, Vivaan says, “One has to be sufi and stoic about those moments. I have to remember that disappointments are eternal — it would happen even in the 70s when small films didn’t get enough screens. So, one has to focus on the process, not the outcome.” Vivaan also has a major project coming up, Sudhir Mishra’s web-series Summer of 76 — incidentally, another project with a period setting. He breaks into laughter as he realises how often he has been part of movies or shows with period backdrop — 7 Khoon Maaf (2011l, A Suitable Boy (2020), Bombay Velvet (2015), to list a few. “Maybe I’ve the kind of face that works in a period setting. They used to say that about Charlton Heston (Ben Hur) — that he looks like he was born in the BC era,” Vivaan adds with a chuckle.

The Ikkis actor finds a way to make sense of these co-incidences, as he talks about his academic love for history. Being a published author of three novels, Vivaan expresses a desire to write a novel with a period setting. When we ask him whether he plans to explore script-writing or film-making eventually, Vivaan is quick to label the idea as “very intimidating”. “It’s like erecting a building. It’s a huge responsibility, and I am not worthy of that. I recently set up a play, jisne mere paseene chudhha diye (it was very exhausting) — so I can only imagine what directing a film would be like,” he says.