10 July,2026 05:32 PM IST | Mumbai | Oshin Fernandes
Sunny Deol in Ikka. Photo via special arrangement
Bollywood superstar Sunny Deol, who commenced 2026 with a power-packed performance in Border 2, stepped back into a lawyer's robe for Ikka after 33 years since Damini. In this gritty courtroom drama, he plays Advocate Arjun Mehra, a brilliant, morally upright defence attorney forced to represent Akshaye Khanna, who essays the role of Shauryaman Gaur, a disbarred lawyer with political backing.
The story begins with Soma Mittal (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor), who leaves a club with Akshaye after a couple of drinks. She is later found dumped on the streets, bloodied and severely wounded. As the prime suspect, Akshaye is arrested, prompting his father, a powerful politician, to recruit Sunny to defend him.
However, a troubled history looms long before the courtroom drama even begins. Sunny is married to Dia Mirza, but she shares a daughter with Akshaye. While Sunny and Dia raise the little girl as their own, their world is shattered when she is diagnosed with leukaemia. Because Akshaye is the only match for a life-saving bone marrow transplant, he leverages the situation, agreeing to become the donor only if Sunny successfully proves his innocence in court.
Sunny is countered by Tillotama Shome, who plays Madhura Banerjee, a junior lawyer. As the sole breadwinner for her family, Madhura goes all in, locking horns with the very man she considers her idol and mentor. In a clever nod to the superstar's legacy, Tillotama's character even subtly drops a variation of Sunny's iconic âDhai kilo ka haath' dialogue right in the middle of a court proceeding, giving fans a nostalgic treat amidst the tension.
Filmmaker Siddharth P. Malhotra, who made waves with Netflix's Maharaj, returns to the OTT giant with yet another legally backed narrative. While the writing is sharp, the execution feels somewhat clumsy, often tailoring the plot to suit the convenience of Sunny's character. He is painted as a righteous man who actively avoids the character assassination of women, yet he readily stoops to it to save his own daughter, only to weep about his choices with his wife later. Also a whole lot of table thumping. The audience is seemingly expected to overlook these flaws simply because he saves the day in the end.
Fresh off the success of Dhurandhar, Akshaye Khanna once again makes a stellar mark with his incredible acting prowess. Meanwhile, Dia Mirza's character is given a bit more meat here compared to her brief stint in Alpha, which hit the big screens last week. Interestingly, her on-screen daughter is also named Samaira. However, the film features a minor goof-up: in a scene where the little girl is looking through her mother's wedding photos, the production uses Dia's real-life wedding stills with husband Vaibhav Rekhi. One can't help but wonder if this was a deliberate Easter egg or a slip-up by the editing team.
All in all, Ikka offers an engaging and relatively refreshing premise that compels you to give it a watch, even if it doesn't entirely stick the landing. With a runtime of over two hours, the narrative drags and struggles to justify its length. For a courtroom drama, one would expect deeper research and a more nuanced approach; instead, it ultimately boils down to a passive viewing experience, the kind of film you can comfortably play in the background while tending to other things.
