Review of Sky Force: Compared to other action movies of this genre, it isn’t as torturously long.
Sky Force is a genre exercise with a high potential but middling output that highlights two heroes from the 1965 India-Pakistan conflict. It takes general information from military history and fictionalizes them to maximize dramatic effect.
The exaggerated portrayal of actual events sometimes succeeds. The film’s narrative trajectory does neither propel it into the stratosphere or assist in its landing with the power that one would anticipate from a war film of this magnitude and type. However, there is just enough here to keep the movie from being considered a failure.
If anything, the second half is where Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapur’s Sky Force really shine. An entire hour is devoted to a part that features a squadron of fighter pilots. The constant scream of the flying aircraft engaged in dogfights and the clamor of an excessively loud and continuous background soundtrack overpower their adventures and interactions.
In the first half, Sky Force frequently gets caught up in the minutiae. In an abundance of computer-generated air battle scenes, it becomes disoriented. It shows little understanding of what is crucial to the plot throughout this tiresome section. The majority of stuff is either too blustery or too grainy.
The story focuses on the mentor-protege connection between an adventurous Indian Air Force commander named Om Ahuja (played by Akshay Kumar) and a youthful, eager fighter pilot named T. Krishna Vijaya (played by newcomer Veer Pahariya), who tends to follow his instincts more than his superiors’ commands. It doesn’t go into great detail on the personality clash and the two opposing ways of answering the call of duty.
It focuses on far less important matters, like the two men’s impacted gear, for example. Until the pregnant wife of one of the two jet pilots encounters the human cost of war, the human tale that revolves around their families is given minimal attention.
Sky Force, which was written by Kewlani, Aamil Keeyan Khan, and Niren Bhatt, spends half of its duration on sound and fury without any thrill. Because it isn’t adequately balanced with aspects that may help the picture cut deeply and sharpen the edges, the visceral push fails.
The narrative of a teenage fighter pilot who vanished in enemy territory during an Indian Air Force (IAF) retaliation mission to strike at the core of Pakistan’s air strength in 1965 is the focus of Sky Force after the thunderous commotion of the aerial conflict had subsided.
Cast as a strong and courageous IAF commander tasked with commanding Squadron 1, the oldest squadron in the military, Akshay Kumar transforms into a detective who is desperate to learn the fate of the incredibly talented and innovative pilot he trained and mentored.
The quest and its conclusion provide the movie much-needed emotional momentum. But it comes far too late, which detracts greatly from the overall impact of the film’s huge surprise at the finale. Since the real story that inspired Sky Force is public knowledge, no discovery can surprise us. An improved buildup would have changed everything.
The first part is negatively impacted by poor sound mixing and design. Words and discussions become either entirely inaudible or incomprehensible due to the heavy usage of background music and the acoustic boom of fighter jets taking off and piercing the air.
In the midst of the constant noise, one learns that a group of soldiers known as “The Tigers”—the collective name of the Squadron—are sent to exact revenge on Pakistan for a covert nighttime raid on two Indian airbases.
It is perceived as an unfair competition. The United States provided Pakistan with supersonic fighter jets in 1965. India’s subsonic bombers were significantly slower and less effective. Despite this, Squadron 1 launched a swift and accurate attack on the strategic Pakistani airfield at Sargodha, destroying the country’s whole fleet of Starstriker F-104s (a fictionalized name for Lockheed Starfighters).
However, the movie first passes through a number of other Dassault Mystere sorties to demonstrate to the audience that success is determined by the fire in the bellies of the men piloting the fighter planes, not by the fighter planes’ firepower, before staging this historic airstrike—independent India’s first-ever on enemy territory.
Sky Force spends too much time attempting to prove that maxim beyond a reasonable doubt. Though nothing that the characters say to one another rises above the noise levels, that goal is accomplished.
The Ahuja (Akshay Kumar) has a pilot-brother who was killed in battle, and he has a wife (Nimrat Kaur), according to the bombast. Veer Pahariya’s character, Flying Officer Vijaya, has a pregnant wife. The couple is sure that a female will be the child. Had the ladies not been so incidental, Sky Force would have been a whole different movie.
The war movie transitions into an investigation drama in which the main character travels the globe in search of information and hints. A fresh chapter is added to the tale of the Sargodha attack, and the case of a missing pilot who has been ignored for almost twenty years is revisited.
During the India-Pakistan struggle for Bangladesh’s freedom, Sky Force debuted in December 1971. In Indian territory, Sharad Kelkar, a seasoned Pakistani fighter pilot, gets shot down. The Geneva Conventions’ regulations are applied, and the POW is given the highest respect. Wing Commander Ahuja asserts that “enmity exists among adversaries.”
We never longer hear these terms in Bollywood war films. By reflecting sentiments that transcend hostility in armed combat, the film presents a flashback to a kinder time in which in the heat of war and beyond it warriors held on to their humanity.
Sky Force emphasizes the dignity of soldiers and people, whether they are allies or enemies, at a time where violence is the norm rather than the exception—a little bit of conventional jingoism also makes an appearance.
The quality of the plot varies, Sky Force is spotty, and the acting is mediocre (Akshay Kumar is clearly the center of gravity for the rest of the ensemble).
On a positive note, the movie finishes. Furthermore, at 125 minutes, it isn’t as gruelingly lengthy as other action movies of its kind. However, it need not be your sole motivation for seeing the movie and telling your friends about it.
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya, Sara Ali KhanAbhishek Anil Kapur, Sandeep Kewlani
Director: Abhishek Anil Kapur, Sandeep Kewlani
