Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan says he was baffled by the response to his war drama ‘Ikkis’, but now hopes that more people will watch the movie following its debut on a OTT platform. Released on January 1, the film is a biographical drama based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal featuring Agastya Nanda as the war hero.

The film,  received positive reviews praising its peace-oriented narrative, but did not draw the audience to theatres in a big way.

“We were quite baffled actually by the response after the film (‘Ikkis’) came out. I hope people will watch the film at the click of the button (on OTT),” Raghavan said on the sidelines of an event organised by Screenwriters Association (SWA) on February 26, according to a PTYI report from Mumbai.

‘Ikkis’, which landed on streaming service Prime Video on Thursday (Feb. 26), was the first war drama for Raghavan, who is known as the master of thrillers in Bollywood with films such as ‘Johnny Gaddar’, ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ and ‘Andhadhun’.

The film features two timelines — one that focuses on Khetrapal as a young recruit in the 1971 India-Pakistan war and the other about his elderly father who travels to Pakistan years later to find out about the day his son fought and lost his life.

Raghavan’s 2024 film ‘Merry Christmas’, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif, also did not do well despite receiving critical acclaim for the story set during the course of one night where two strangers meet on Christmas eve.

Acknowledging that the industry is going through a challenging period, Raghavan said, “I’ve been hearing there is less work. I’ve not yet gone out with my next subject, so I don’t know how bad it is. I’ve had two flops, and it’s not easy.”

Quoting the iconic French filmmaker Francois Truffaut, Raghavan said a sentiment that defines his current state of mind is: “A filmmaker who’s not making a film, or doesn’t have a subject, is the most miserable person on earth.”

‘Ikkis’ features Nanda in the role of Khetarpal, who was martyred at the age of 21 during the Battle of Basantar in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The film also stars Dharmendra, Jaideep Ahlawat and others.

Drawing inspiration from classic war cinema like ‘Ballad of a Soldier’, ‘Flags of our Fathers’, ‘Cranes are Flying’ and ‘Battle of the Bulge’, Raghavan said he sought to create a film that prioritises human emotions.

“If I were completely against the ideology of ‘Ikkis’, I would not have made it.

“But for me, if it was just the story of the boy, it would not have (been) enough, I wouldn’t know how to give it an arc but the other story is what made it whole for me.

“So, when I first heard the story, it was the two stories in one and that is the complete thing that appealed to me. I don’t know how it would have been otherwise.”

The film has been lauded for a befitting farewell to the late Dharmendra, who passed away in November 2025. Raghavan described the experience of directing the veteran actor in his final film as “very fulfilling”.

On a query about how aspiring writers can reach him, Raghavan said he is always on the “lookout for good stories”.

“If ten scripts are coming to me, I can’t miss it, what if one turns out to be a Salim-Javed script?”, Raghavan said, adding he keeps a keen eye on messages from writers.