Lights, Camera, Scoop: 'Dhurandhar' Holds 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' at Box-Office; How Sriram Raghavan Prepped For War Film 'Ikkis'

Box-office battle

Filmmaker James Cameron arrived this Friday with the third instalment of his ambitious Avatar franchise and the result in India, at least on day one, wasn't as fiery. Avatar: Fire and Ash minted an estimated ₹20 crore net all-India on Friday, which is a solid number for a standalone Hollywood title, but is at least 50 percent less than what Avatar: The Way of Water had earned over ₹40 crore three years ago.

According to trade, despite being released widely, including in premium formats like IMAX and 4DX, the film was impacted by the Dhurandhar wave. The Aditya Dhar directorial remained unstoppable even in its third weekend as it minted more than Avatar: Fire and Ash on Friday.

According to the makers, Dhurandhar netted over ₹23 crore on its 15th day, showing a historic hold. According to the official collections, the film has now entered the ₹500 crore club as the total so far stands at ₹503 crore. The Ranveer Singh-led spy thriller is on track to break all records for an original Hindi film in the coming weeks and will continue to pose a threat to Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Into the world of Ikkis

There are tanks, guns, bullets, a battlefield and blood, but Sriram Raghavan, loved for his delicious thrillers, wouldn't have made his maiden war epic Ikkis if he didn't see the "spine of storytelling" in the film.

Now set to release on January 1, Ikkis was an idea that producer Dinesh Vijan approached Raghavan with, before even Andhadhun had released. After the release, the director was toying with either making Badlapur 2 or diving into the adrenaline-pumping, emotional world of Ikkis which chronicles the extraordinary true story of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, India’s youngest Param Vir Chakra awardee.

Ikkis started taking shape pre-pandemic, with Varun Dhawan on board to headline it. Raghavan watched war cinema from across the world, revisiting classics like Saving Private Ryan and discovering the Israeli film Lebanon, which showed war

from the inside of a battle tank.

The prep was on and the team was ready to go on floors, when the pandemic hit. The film was paused, and then, once it was safe to resume, Dhawan had naturally aged. So then came on board Agastya Nanda, who trained extensively for six months to get the part right.

Raghavan wanted to get the grammar of the genre right, but focus on storytelling, and not just the action-packed part of war epics. The ask was also very specific: to ensure that the tanks didn't look like they were from "Cartoon Network", the team laughs.

The new trailer, sources say, is reflective of the two halves of the film—an emotional anchor which the first visual unit teased and the adrenaline of being inside a tank which the new asset unleashes. "It’s the best film the production house has made," is the sentiment on the ground.