I could watch Ikkis twice. The one thing you observe in Ikkis, decidedly a war film; makes no mistake, is the immersive, claustrophobic insides of a bloody battle-tank as the Indian Army advances across the border
Ikkis Review
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Cast: Agastya Nanda, Dharmendra. Jaideep Ahlawat, Simar Bhatia
Rating: 4 stars
I COULD watch Ikkis twice. The second time on to notice more. The first time, of course, was to simply feel, and observe.
Foremost, Dharmendra; 1 have to say.
As if it was a demise foretold, this is the most fitting tribute to a lead actor, who served his audiences for multiple generations and for multiple reasons, without quite acquiring the same aura/acclaim as some superstars of his vintage did, perhaps.
Somehow, I assumed, he'd have an extended cameo in the film. It's a full-fledged part, worthy of second billing. Wherein Dharmendra, also a retired Brigadier/Army man, plays the father of late, 1971 Indo-Pak war-hero, 2nd Lt Arun Khetarpal.
Khetarpal was 21. So is the war-film on him.
In what can also be seen as a road movie, for a trip down memory lane, Brigadier Khetarpal visits Pakistan to attend the centenary celebration of his alma mater, Le. Government College, Lahore the alumni of which, you can see in portraits, include the likes of Balraj Sahni, Dev Anand, BR Chopra.
Technically, if it wasn't for the beloved nostalgia that viscerally looms over you as an audience, one could deem Dharmendra's casting as an inspired, but poor choice, too.
Consider scenes from the early 1970s in the film, when he was easily the handsomest young Indian onscreen he appears unflatteringly old in these sequences as well. VFX/Al can only fix that much.
A tightly woven Ikkis, smartly scripted by Arijit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, and director, Sriram Raghavan, simultaneously flits between three timelines. As in, 1970, 1971, and 2001.
The latter portions involve Brig Khetarpal fondly recalling even his childhood crush in Lahore a girl named Husna that, in turn, reminds you of Piyush Mishra's Coke Studio song by the same name, that's a letter to a beloved, in what is today Pakistan.
The other thing you observe in Ikkis decidedly a war film; make no mistake-is the immersive, claustrophobic insides of a bloody battle-tank as the Indian Army advances across the border!
Khetarpal's formation enters Pakistan through the western front; most likely, headed toward Lahore.
As against the cavalry in Raja Menon's recent, Pippa (2023), where the armoured regiment charges through the eastern side, namely East Pakistan (or what's now Bangladesh), during the same war.
I felt Pippa, starring Ishaan Khatter, for its stunning war sequences, with the tank regiment wading through water/marshy lands, was a fairly underrated film that, sadly, went straight to OTT (Prime Video).
What connects it to Ikkis is, likewise, a fairly green officer, going from training, straight to war (Captain Balram Singh Mehta, in that case).
What separates the two films is, chiefly, the writer-director. I mean Raghavan (Andhad hun). He layers this war drama enough to even shine a light on a lot of his muses.
One of which is the city of Pune. Raghavan, if I'm not mistaken, read film direction at FTII, Pune.
2nd Lt Khetarpal, of course, went to National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, that's technically Pune-recreated here from 1970.
That is, 20-year-old cadet going on dates at the local cinema, watching Billy Wilder's romcom, Irma la Douce (1963), John Guillermin's war-film, The Bridge at Ramagen (1969), picking up a copy of Ernest Hemingway's war-novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) from Manneys bookstore, the rock-and-roll song at the ballroom is Jaan peh-chaan ho from Gumnaam (1965) that became a huge hit outside India, after the film Ghost World (2001)!
The humanising of the characters is complete. The young boy is in love with the niece (Simar Bhatia) of the academy's adjutant. These portions somehow brought to memory my favourite Indian military movie, growing up the equally sobering, Govind Nihalani's Vijeta (1982), also set in the 71 war.
Furthermore, on the film's flip side is a gentle Pakistani Brigadier (Jaideep Ahlawat), hosting Dharmendra, as in Khetarpal Sr; picking him from the plane to Pakistan, driving him around...
Decades ago, he's the guy on the tank, who took on young Khetarpal. It was December 16, 1971. Which I thought was the day the war ended. TIL: The ceasefire was declared on De-cember 17.
Be that as it may, the so-called enemy in this rare war-pic has a human face, and an empathetic brain. By all accounts, Ikkis is a true story. It feels unusually intimate. Sure, wars are political. But deaths and lives remain personal, still.
This is to take away nothing from the crackerjack battle scenes starring, among others, Vivaan Shah, Sikandar Kher. The exhilaration is undeniable. As is the subversion. The Dop (Anil Mehta) is dope.
At the centre of Ikkis is, of course, young Agastya Nanda (The Archies), playing the similarly young, dauntless Arun Khetarpal, India's youngest the Param Vir Chakra.
Such a daringly devoted kid although, as his boss (Rahul Dev) on the battlefield tells him, only 'Jung' decides the distinction between bravery, and stupidity. This character's maternal grandfather also served the Army. The same can be said for the actor's nana (Amitabh Bachchan), who is indeed In-dia's greatest superstar. Still, acting is so much about range that only gets proven over time, isn't it?
That said, simply as a casting choice it's hard to imagine anyone better for this part.
There's such an unvarnished innocence about Nanda's sincere screen presence that no extra drama could so viscerally drive home the film's point. You say yes to the boy. You say no to war.
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