23 January,2025 06:41 PM IST | Mumbai | Shachi Chaturvedi
Sky Force releases in theatres on January 24
Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan's film Sky Force, which marks Veer Pahariya's debut, is based on true events that unfolded during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. The film tells the story of Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya.
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In 1965, on the night of September 6, Pakistan attacked several Indian air bases, including Pathankot, Halwara, and Adampur. This was a shocker for the country, and India decided to give it back to them.
We attacked Sargodha, one of Pakistan's most protected and strongest air bases at the time. During this mission, one of our fighters, Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya, went missing in action.
After several attempts to find him, he was announced dead and was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra in 1988, 23 years after the operation.
The story of Sky Force is about how the country struck back at Pakistan with their not-so-well-equipped fighter jets, destroyed the advanced fighter jets the neighbouring country got from the USA, and how Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya sacrificed himself.
Akshay Kumar plays the role of Group Captain OP Taneja, leader of the 13-aircraft contingent, in Sky Force. His name in the Abhishek Anil Kapur and Sandeep Kewlani directorial has been changed to KO Ahuja. Meanwhile, Veer, who has been named T Vijaya in the film, portrays the role of Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya. The movie also stars Sara Ali Khan in a pivotal role that of Veer Pahariya's wife.
Akshay Kumar is known for signing films that are inspired by true events, and there was a time when he was just doing such films. After taking a short break from his favourite genre, Akshay is back at it, but at what cost?
The first half of the film features Akshay delivering dialogues that ooze patriotism, but were they convincing? It felt like he had a teleprompter to read the dialogues from. It is high time that Akshay started dedicating more than 40 days to a film and delivered one good movie before the audience lost faith in him.
Sara Ali Khan was fairly okay, and a little extra, as she is in all her films. She didn't have much scope to show her work, but whatever she did, she delivered nicely. Nimrat Kaur, on the other hand, played Akshay's wife - a totally avoidable character in the movie.
A surprise entry in the movie was by Sharad Kelkar. He played a Pakistani fighter pilot and prisoner of war. He has time and again proved how talented an actor he is, and we still hope to see him in a film where he isn't making a surprise entry or doing a cameo. Kelkar deserves a full-fledged movie starring him in the lead.
Coming to the action - hands down, amazing. Any part of the movie that has no dialogue is the best part of Sky Force. Be it the training session, the war sequence, the air strike, or the fighter pilots saluting T Vijaya's wife as she receives the Maha Vir Chakra on his behalf, all these scenes gave goosebumps and were beautifully crafted.
The movie lags behind in the music department. Veer and Sara's song didn't make it to the final cut, and B Praak screaming at the top of his voice didn't leave any impact.
Will you cry in those two hours? Possibly, but that could only be because of the story of Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya and not because of how the makers have executed a well-written story.
After delivering blockbuster films with their horror universe and impressing the audience with the Chhaava teaser, coming up with a patriotic drama just before Republic Day is an amazing move by Maddock. However, only if they had a better cast on board, this would have been another blockbuster for them.
