SKYFORCE
Cast: Akshay Kumar (KO Ahuja), Veer Paharia (TK Vijaya), Nimrat Kaur (Preeti Ahuja), Sara Ali Khan (Geeta Vijaya), Sharad Kelkar (Ahmad Hussain)
Director: Sandeep Kewlani, Abhishek Anil Kapur
Producer: Jyoti Deshpande, Amar Kaushik, Bhaumik Gondaliya, Dinesh Vijay
Production Houses: Jio Studios, Maddock Films, Leo Films UK Production
Screenplay: Sandeep Kewlani, Aamil Keeyan Khan, Carl Austin, Niren Bhatt
Language: Hindi
Music: Tanishk Bagchi (Music) and Justin Varghese (Score)
Release Date: 24th Jan 2025
Rating: 3.8/5
Skyforce is hailed as a story of devoted patriotism and sacrifice. But, the real sentiment that dominates the story is the brotherhood and the tenacity of a man to find closure regarding the disappearance of his subordinate during the Sargoda Air raid (Pakistan air base) conducted in 1965. Based on true events and the people, salutations to retd. Group commander OP Ahuja (based on Om Prakash Taneja) played by Akshay Kumar and his protege MVC TK Vijaya (based on Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya) played by debutant Veer Pahariya. Both even bear complimentary call signs Tiger and Tabby respectively.
Ahuja’s attempts to pursue a line of enquiry on Vijaya is met with much opposition from the superiors, they term Vijaya as a comrade who circumvented orders and was repeatedly reckless, hence, whatever fate he met with was perhaps even deserved. Ahuja’s response is muted throughout the story. He does not engage in passionate dialogue delivery or even brute force to get his point across. Instead, Ahuja doggedly pursues the truth with whatever means available to him including appealing to Pakistani Squadron Leader, Ahmed Hussain (real life Amjad Hussain) who indirectly hints at the events that played out but cannot outright discuss as their countries are in dispute. His unrelenting hope finally bears fruit after two decades, leading to a culmination in an officiated enquiry presided over by the senior officers who had previously scoffed at him. The mystery of TK Vijaya’s disappearance is finally solved.
Though the movie is relatively short at 2 hrs, we could have still done without the song and dance sequence with the number Mazaa playing in the background, that has Akshay Kumar swinging around on a chandelier. Yeah.. Could have done away with that.
Everyone’s acting is reasonable enough. A good chunk of the movie goes into explaining strategy, giving us an insight into the sheer brilliance that is the Indian Air Force. From reading into the real location of premium fighting jets Star Strikers by listening to President Ayub Khan’s speech or the simple tweaks they employ to increase the fuel capacity of their modest F1 flights for their attack on Sargoda, the Indian Air Force manage to turn things around in their favour. The operation at Sargoda is called Sky Force, retribution to Pakistan’s attack on their airstation at Adhampur. A retribution that could have resulted in lesser or no destruction, if orders from the high command had been more speedy and decisive. Hindusthan Aman Chahathe hain( India wants Peace), is the only placatory instruction given in spite of the anticipated attack. Avoiding hard hitting delayed decision making due to several layers of hierarchical reporting from Indian bureaucracy, is a repeated theme we get to watch in most political dramas or movies, which makes you question just how incompetent is the system?!
TK Vijaya’s efforts are acknowledged as a belated glory, much like the case of Muralikant Petkar from the Kartik Aryan starrer Chandu Champion. Read our review regarding this movie here.
The song Maaye stands out for its patriotic lyrics amongst the song list and the movie delivers some punchy dialogues as well.
The destruction of the Star Strikers in operation Skyforce becomes a game changer, giving India a clear advantage. Our heroes return unharmed to be awarded the Veer chakra, which was possible, as is later revealed only because of TK Vijaya’s efforts. The operation played a pivotal role in the ceasefire getting declared within the month itself on 23rd Sept 1965.
Our armed forces seem to be littered with such gems, lying under rubble and dirt, so that they may serve: their nation, the borders and the people. We will unearth them, only if we are willing to take the time and effort to dig deep enough, like Ahuja (Capt. Taneja).
