Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra reveals that Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna were always his top picks for the courtroom thriller ‘Ikka’. Deol agreed to join the project after the script won him over, whereas Khanna was so captivated by it that he finished reading it in one sitting before agreeing.
A reunion 30 years in the making, says Siddharth P Malhotra
Director Siddharth has pulled off a courtroom drama with Netflix’s ‘Ikka’, featuring two of Bollywood’s most powerful actors in a gripping story, bringing Sunny and Akshaye together after almost 30 years since ‘Border’ (1997). The timing worked out well too. Deol had just grown his fanbase with ‘Gadar 2: The Katha Continues’ (2023) and ‘Border 2’, while Khanna was winning everyone over with ‘Dhurandhar’ (2025). “They were simply the right actors for the story,” he shared.
Siddharth P Malhotra had spoken to Deol a year and a half before
Malhotra shares that he first spoke to Sunny Deol about the project nearly a year and a half before it actually took shape. As reported in Mid-day, he said, “I told Sunny Sir this is a script I want him to do and he liked it. When [the platform] came on board and heard the script, I went back to him and he said, ‘Great, let’s do this’.” When it came to picking the perfect opponent to face Deol in the courtroom, Malhotra didn’t have to think twice. “They asked me who I wanted for the antagonist and I said Akshaye Khanna,” he says.
Siddharth P Malhotra on when right and wrong blur in ‘Ikka’
In ‘Ikka’, Deol plays a well-regarded lawyer who finds himself in an uncomfortable position, defending the very man he once helped put behind bars. It is this ethical tug-of-war that drew Malhotra to the story in the first place. “The challenge of the script itself is the character’s moral dilemma. The lines between right and wrong and their perspectives are blurring. That’s what makes it interesting for me as a storyteller.“
Siddharth P Malhotra on breaking Sunny Deol’s good guy mould
Malhotra made a conscious choice to break away from the image of Deol as the untouchable good guy. “I’ve seen him in Damini [1993]. Why do I have to give people Damini again? It’s fun to see him be emotionally correct even if he’s morally incorrect,” he smiles.
Siddharth P Malhotra’s ‘Ikka’ OTT release date
‘Ikka’ is set to stream on Netflix from July 10.