Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya, Sara Ali Khan, Nimrat Kaur
Director: Sandeep Kewlani, Abhishek Anil Kapur
Sky Force Movie Review Synopsis:
SKY FORCE is the story of two brave pilots. The year is 1965. India and Pakistan are on the verge of a war. Kumar Om Ahuja (Akshay Kumar) is a group captain of the Indian Air Force and is stationed at the Adampur Air Base in Jalandhar. Ahuja is married to Preeti (Nimrat Kaur) and he has a close bond with Squadron Leader T Krishnan Ahuja aka Tabby (Veer Pahariya). Tabby is married to Geeta (Sara Ali Khan) and she is pregnant. One day, station commander David Lawrence (Manish Chaudhari) asks Ahuja to recce and find out about the preparation by the Pakistani forces. Ahuja asks Tabby to join him. Both enter the Pakistani territory and get attacked. Ahuja and Tabby hit back. They click photographs of their artillery and warn the Indian forces to be ready. Their request is not taken seriously and a day later, their base gets attacked severely, leading to the loss of lives and planes. Yet, the Indian Air Force decides to hit back. While the Pakistani air force has the fast-paced American Starstriker planes, Indians are in possession of the comparatively weaker Mystere aeroplanes. Nevertheless, Ahuja and his Tiger Squadron attack that too at an air base situated deep in the Pakistani territory. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Sky Force Movie Story Review:
Carl Austin, Sandeep Kewlani and Aamil Keeyan Khan’s story is novel as not many are aware of this chapter of history. Carl Austin, Sandeep Kewlani and Aamil Keeyan Khan’s screenplay (additional screenplay by Niren Bhatt) is engaging and doesn’t waste a single moment. Carl Austin, Sandeep Kewlani, and Aamil Keeyan Khan’s dialogues (additional dialogues by Niren Bhatt) are weak. There’s only one clap-worthy dialogue in the film and ideally, a movie like this should have had more exhilarating one-liners.
Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapur’s direction is quite good, considering that it’s their first film. The characters are neatly defined and the film scores on the emotional front, especially in the second half. What’s also refreshing is that there’s no jingoism and the whole Pakistani angle, especially the track of Flight Lieutenant Ahmed Hussain (Sharad Kelkar) is very touching. Though the first half has issues, it does have memorable scenes like Ahuja and Tabby recceing in the Pakistani territory and the sudden attack at the Adampur air base. Post-interval, one gets a surprise as one gets to know that even Tabby left the air base. The investigation by Ahuja in 1984 is engaging while the finale is very moving.
On the flipside, the first half doesn’t pack a punch as intended. Some of the aerial scenes give a déjà vu of FIGHTER [2024]. After a great start in the second half, the narrative again dips for a few minutes, though it picks up eventually. The soundtrack doesn’t work and lastly, the mass appeal of the film is limited.
Sky Force Movie Review Performances:
Akshay Kumar delivers a power-packed performance. He’s there throughout the film and though he excels in action, he is even better in the dramatic and emotional scenes. This role required an actor of his calibre and as expected, he does full justice to it. Veer Pahariya makes a fine debut but has scope for improvement. Thankfully, he plays a heroic character and hence, even his performance gets liked a lot. Sara Ali Khan and Nimrat Kaur add star value and perform ably. But their screen times are limited. Sharad Kelkar leaves a tremendous mark and his casting is apt. Manish Chaudhari, Soham Majumdar (Debashish Chatterjee aka Cockroach), Varun Badola (Air Vice Marshal Amit Narang), and Gurpal Singh (Mehta) lend able support. Rajat Kaul (Sandhu aka Bull), Mohit Chauhan (Air Chief Marshal Arjun Sinha) and others are fine.
Sky Force | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar | Veer Pahariya | Sara Ali Khan | Nimrat Kaur
Sky Force movie music and other technical aspects:
Tanishk Bagchi’s music is okay. ‘Ae Mere Watan’ is the only song that is touching. ‘Maaye’ is on the lines of ‘Teri Mitti’ [KESARI; 2019] but doesn’t hit viewers like the latter. ‘Rang’ is well shot while ‘Kya Meri Yaad Aati Hai’ and ‘Tu Hai Toh Main Hoon’ are forgettable. Justin Varghese’s background score is exhilarating.
Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran’s cinematography is splendid. Craig Macrae and Parvez Shaikh’s action is spectacular while Double Negative’s VFX is top class. Sujeet Subhash Sawant and Sriram Kannan Iyengar’s production design is superior. Shivank Kapoor’s costumes are reminiscent of the bygone era. A Sreekar Prasad’s editing is slick and the film packs in a lot despite the 125-minute run time.
Sky Force Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, SKY FORCE is the ideal Republic Day entertainer. It has not just action, scale, and grandeur but also a strong emotional connect. More importantly, it tells a fascinating and unknown chapter from history that’s sure to make every Indian proud. The performance of Akshay Kumar is like an icing on the cake. At the box office, it might start slow but has the potential to pick up significantly from the second day onwards due to positive word of mouth.