After more than 40 years of giving theatrical hits, Sunny Deol surprised one and all with his streaming debut in 2026. The actor starred in Netflix ’s Ikka, directed by Siddharth P Malhotra. The legal drama, which also starred Akshaye Khanna, was a success on the platform, reaching the number one spot in its first few days.
Ikka, Ruchikaa admits, was an unusual streaming debut for the actor who has seen a second wind to his career on the back of action extravaganzas like Gadar 2, Border 2, and Jaat. Border abhi aayi hai (Border 2 has just released).’” But eventually he came around, Ruchikaa recalls.
“He said, ‘Are you sure? “I’m going with the conviction that you guys have, and I’m going to give you my all,” is what he told the team.
To which the star laughed and said, “I’m 60 years old. Because it had no action, which has been his USP for close to four decades, ruchikaa recalls that Sunny was initially apprehensive about the film. Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, Director, Original Films, Netflix India, takes Hindustan Times behind the scenes of how the streamer convinced the superstar to opt for a streaming film and how he let go of his action-hero image for the courtroom drama. “We were working on Ikka with Sunny sir, and he was worried that there was no action. We’ll take a familiar genre like a courtroom drama, put you in the genre, and we’re going to see where it goes. Ikka happened to be Sunny’s streaming debut. Having been a theatrical star for four decades, it was a brave move for the actor. Ruchikaa recalls telling Sunny several times that it was time for him to ‘debut’ on Netflix. How can I debut? But Ruchikaa maintains that the film’s makers, including those at Netflix, were never unsure about it. “I don’t want to say we were nervous. It was him and his A game, him and his element,” she explains.
And I told him, ‘That’s the beauty of doing streaming. Ruchikaa says the actor was still apprehensive when she assured him, saying, “Two months later, either I’ll tell you, we should have put one action scene, or you’ll call me and say this was not a bad idea. So, let’s see where it goes,” she says.
