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‘Sky Force’ – decent but could have been better if story had centred around new lead and wives more…

‘Sky Force’ – decent but could have been better if story had centred around new lead and wives more…

This is a good, solid story but a little let down by Bollywood’s desire to play safe…

ORIGINAL and different, ‘Sky Force’ isn’t. Sorry.

This is a big budget Bollywood feature starring icon Akshay Kumar which depending on your expectations – not much – delivers without being anything special or fails considerably (if you are expecting a cinematic experience – just don’t, please).

Directed by Abhishek Anil Kapur and Sandeep Kewlani, the real stars of this film are all too underplayed – newcomer Veer Pahariya, Nimrat Kaur and Sara Ali Khan. More of them and a bit less of Kumar who has been there, seen it and done it all – and it shows – not that he is bad, but it’s more or less the same Kumar we have seen in countless Bollywood movies. It’s ok – but for some it’s just too dull.

Wing Commander Kumar Om Ahuja (Akshay Kumar)
with Squadron leader TK (Tabby) Krishna Vijaya (Veer Pahariya)

It isn’t a bad film overall – but it isn’t doing anything particularly or remarkable and it is typical patriotic fare for Republic Day in India. It falls on Sunday (January 26).

Marketed, it appears as a thrills and spills film, with crack Indian Air Force pilots at the centre of the drama, this isn’t really an action film at all and shouldn’t really be advertised as such.

There is actually a decent story but it takes time to get going and tries to compensate with lots of CGI flying scenes up front.

Sky Force’ revolves around the two central male characters – Kumar as Wing Commander Kumar Om Ahuja, while Pahariya plays TK Krishna Vijaya, known to his colleagues as ‘Tabby’. He is a bit of a rebel but also an extremely able fighter pilot – both are crucial to understanding his story as it unfolds.

TK Krishna (Veer Pahariya), Kumar (Akshay Kumar) and
TK wife (Sara Ali Khan)

Theirs is a sort of surrogate father-son relationship between Kumar and Tabby. The older Kumar is the leader of a group of crack Indian Air Force pilots who are pressed into action with the India-Pakistan war of 1965.

However, the film starts later – in 1971 with a Pakistani pilot being shot down during this war (which led to the creation of Bangladesh and the end of East Pakistan as it was known).

Ahmed (Sharad Kelkar) is interrogated by Kumar and we quickly learn they have form – going back to 1965.

Hold the idea that there is ‘honour among enemies’ as Kumar says, and we delve back to the events of 1965 which brought them into conflict six years earlier.

Pakistan had air superiority thanks to American F-104 Starfighter aircraft which were considerably faster and more advanced than India’s own Mystère and so when Pakistan first attacks India by air, there is trepidation and anxiety – how can Indian planes and their pilots defend the country with outdated fighter jets?

Kumar hatches an audacious plan – to attack the Pakistan air force HQ at Sargodha – deep into the country, rather than just along the border.

Nimrat Kaur in ‘Sky Force’

The relationship between Kumar and the younger pilot Krishna (Pahariya) is well-drawn and one of the strengths of the film – so too are their wives but again they are not used enough.

Kumar’s is the luminous Nimrat Kaur, who first broke through in the international Indian hit, ‘The Lunchbox’ and is massively underused in this film. Someone in Bollywood please give her a leading meaty role!

The same could be said of Sara Ali Khan who plays Krishna’s wife and is pregnant early in the film – it’s clear both couples are good friends and look out for each other. And both women portray the tension of wives married to service personnel – especially when there is a war under way.

The operation scenes are done well enough and the story moves on through an extended flashback.

We won’t spoil it for you – it’s based on a true tale and very remarkable for it.

Pahariya is good and we should have seen more of him in this promising debut. Perhaps the film would have been better centred around him and his story with Kumar as support – but of course, this being Bollywood, that simply can’t be. Pahariya does have star quality and it will be interesting to see how his career develops as someone breaking through at a time when Bollywood seems unsure of itself, as say, compared to cinema blockbuster fare from South India.

‘Sky Force’ is decent enough overall and if you are looking for something patriotic, wholesome and memorable for the story it tells, you could do worse.

Acv rating: *** (out of five)

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Written by Asian Culture Vulture