Exclusive |'Ikka' Director Waited 10 Years To Mount Sunny Deol-Akshaye Khanna Film, Wrapped Filming In Record 30 Days

If good things happen to those who wait, then filmmaker Siddharth P. Malhotra has the patience level of a chess grandmaster. In an industry notorious for delays, Malhotra has spent the last two decades playing the longest of long games.

"It’s in my kundli (horoscope) only," laughs Malhotra, tracking the math of his directorial filmography. After making his debut in 2010 with the Karan Johar-backed We Are Family, it took him seven years to make the acclaimed Rani Mukerji-starrer Hichki under Yash Raj Films, followed by another five-year wait to mount Junaid Khan's debut, Maharaj. His latest Netflix feature, Ikka—headlined by Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna—is finally coming to Netflix this July 10, overcoming a challenging script limbo that lasted for over a decade.

"But those long waits changed me as a person; they made me way more Zen and patient," Malhotra reflects. "Naturally, I am an emotionally high-strung, very vulnerable guy. But this film tested me and changed me in a lot of ways."

In a candid conversation with THR India, the filmmaker opens up about the high-stakes execution of Ikka (written by Althea Kaushal and Mayank Tewari), the pressure of directing his first major project completely outside the comfort zones of YRF and Dharma, and how he pulled off a massive production turnaround by wrapping the entire film in a record-breaking 30 shifts.

When you wrapped the film, you posted on social media it was a journey like no other. Why?

Around the time of my directorial debut, We Are Family, at Dharma Productions, the writer, Althea, gave me this script. At that point, she was developing it for Excel Entertainment, but it didn't work out there. When it came to me—which is almost 10 or 11 years ago—I took it to Karan (Johar), who really liked the script, but things just didn't fall into place.

Over the years, this script has travelled to everyone from Karan to Adi (Aditya Chopra). In fact, if you look at the film's credits, there is a special thanks to Aditya Chopra and Luv Ranjan because both of them had worked on the script at different points. It went to so many people; it would get close to happening, and then stall. But everybody loved the material. Eventually, it was meant to be made with Netflix, and honestly, God rewarded my patience in the best way possible.

I never imagined I'd finally mount this with Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna at the peak of their careers, with Netflix backing it completely. It got to a point where Althea used to tell me, "Just give up on this film, Siddharth. I have given up on it as the writer, why aren't you?" I told her, "No, this film will be made. I will tell this story."

How did it finally work out?

Sometimes an actor wants you to direct the film they want, and sometimes they trust you enough to let you make your film. On Ikka, the latter happened, completely. Sunny and Akshaye trusted me. From day one, they surrendered entirely to my vision and everything I asked of them. And that gave me immense creative satisfaction, which was crucial because I was fighting a massive time crunch.

This was originally structured to be a 55-day shoot. I shot the entire film in just 30 shifts with standard eight-hour days. To pull that off with a film of this scale is a record in itself. You have to be incredibly sharp and clear about what exactly you want. Because I had been living with this story for ten years, I knew it inside out. I knew what my characters would or wouldn't do in any given situation. Even down to the shot breakdown, I knew exactly how much I needed from each angle—where the trolley would move, where I’d zoom in, and where I needed a close-up. I had to operate at my absolute sharpest as a filmmaker, otherwise, we would still be on set shooting right now. We started in mid-November and by December 16, we had wrapped.

That's a quick turnaround!

It’s record speed. We locked the edit by the end of March. In fact, Netflix saw the first cut in the first week of March this year. The post-production—the dubbing, fine-tuning the BGM, and color grading—took its own time, and then Netflix required their standard 45 to 50 days to set up the release.D

How did the final casting lock into place?

The casting kept changing for eight years. When we originally wrote it a decade ago, Sunny sir was the first person we had in mind. But over eight years, as you pitch to different producers, every studio has their own favorite actors. As a filmmaker, my mindset was always, "I just want to make my film." I know my capabilities as a director and I know this script inside out, whether I'm working with veteran stars or newcomers like Junaid Khan and Sharvari.

The turning point happened through Netflix. Sunny sir had watched Maharaj, really liked my directing style, and we were actually brainstorming another project together that eventually didn't pan out. When that happened, Monika (Shergill) , Ruchika (Kapoor Shaikh), and Ameet (Dhanwani) at Netflix asked me, "Do you have anything else?" Of course, my immediate reaction was, "I have one script." They read it, absolutely loved it, and asked if Sunny sir had heard it. I had actually gone to the sets of Batwara a year prior and narrated it to him, and he had liked it. So Netflix suggested we re-narrate it to him. I did, and Sunny sir immediately said yes. Then he asked, "Who is playing the other lead?" I told him I wanted Akshaye Khanna. He asked, "Will he do it?" I said, "I don't know if he'll say yes, but I am definitely going to try."

This was all happening right before production, correct?

This was moving at lightning speed. We got commissioned by Netflix in September. In October, we pitched to Akshaye and signed him. In November, we completed look tests and went on floors, and by December, the shoot was entirely complete.

Akshaye and I had been talking for four years on various ideas because I genuinely love him as an actor. Contrary to what a lot of people in the industry believe, he is actually one of the easiest actors to work with. He read the script over two days and said, "Damn good script. Let's do it." He just had a fundamentally different, brilliant take on how his character should be approached. He brought his incredible sensibilities to the table, challenging me with valid logic.