 "'Ikkis' Movie Review: In Sriram Raghavan’s directorial Dharmendra, Jaideep Ahlawat & Agastya Nanda give honest performances on the life of Arun Khetarpal")
Language: Hindi
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Cast: Dharmendra, Jaideep Ahlawat, Agastya Nanda, Sikandar Kher, Simar Bhatia, Ekavali Khanna
Arun Khetarpal was a ‘jolly good fellow,’ and Agastya Nanda did full justice to his role. Sriram Raghavan’s Ikkis shows how a youngster needs to just have fire in his belly to change the course of history. The film is honest, courageous, and most importantly, non-jingoistic. It is a human-centric war drama that doesn’t make too much noise, and it doesn’t show random bloodshed. This film successfully positions Agastya Nanda as one of the most distinctive and unconventional new heroes to surface in Bollywood.
It is indeed a story of courage, conviction and true bravery. Second Lieutenant Khetarpal was just Ikkis and he will remain ‘forever 21’ in our hearts. Agastya Nanda was the perfect choice for the film. For the first time, Bollywood did justice to the role of a young officer who gave his life for the country. This is year we also had 120 Bahadur, which was another war film based on the life of Major Shaitan Singh and Farhan Akhtar played his role which was absolutely disastrous and made me question as to why does Bollywood even attempt a war film?
But Ikki s is a complete ten out of ten in the depiction of the life of a war hero. Ikkis is based on the untold true story of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra at just 21 — honoured posthumously for his unmatched courage and sacrifice during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
National award-winning filmmaker Sriram Raghavan who is known for his craft and filmography cannot go wrong and that he has proved it yet again in the depiction of the life of Second Lieutenant Khetarpal by choosing a person close to his age and making him do the role with full dedication. Agastya Nanda’s performance is indeed brilliant. And not just Agastya, Dharmendra even with his last film has shown his fans that he remains the ‘He-Man’ of Bollywood. His unfiltered performance will make you empathise with the character he plays as Second Lieutenant Khetarpal’s father.
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View AllEverybody has a way of dealing with grief and so does a father who has lost his son in a war. Dharmendra shows such restrained emotion which will make you cry, but not a drop falls from his eyes. He doesn’t cry, but he truly misses his son and wants to know what exactly happened when his son’s tank caught fire and he was ordered to leave. He had a lot of questions, why did his son not leave? Why did he continue to fight till the end?
Ikkis also shows Brigadier Naser (Jaideep Ahlawat), a Pakistani officer who hosted M.L. Khetarpal (Dharmendra) with a lot of love and respect. He took good care of him in full ‘fauji style’ and ensured Brigadier M.L. Khetarpal had a satisfying and nostalgic visit to his old house in Sargodha.
Upon his return to Lahore he was once again the guest of Brigadier Naser for three days. He didn’t want him to stay in a hotel, but he wanted Brigadier M.L. Khetarpal to stay at his home and be a part of his family for three days. In fact, the film starts with M.L. Khetarpal (Dharmendra) making plans to leave for Lahore and how the family of Brigadier Naser (Jaideep Ahlawat) tries doing up their own house so that Khetarpal has a comfortable stay. 
A still from ‘Ikkis’
The performances of each of the actors including Sikandar Kher who plays the role of RIS Sagat Singh, a senior field training soldier and the regiment’s operational backbone does justice to his role. On the whole, Ikkis is not just a film, it’s an emotion and never once will you feel the script thinning or the emotions fading, despite the fact that we all know the story of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal.
Ikkis is indeed a deeply emotional film. But the one who shines through it all is Jaideep Ahlawat and the best scenes are not from the war, but the conversation that Brigadier Naser played by him had with Brigadier M.L. Khetarpal. He mentions to the father of the martyr, that ‘your son fought with utmost bravery’ and takes M.L. Khetarpal (Dharmendra) to the exact place where Arun Khetarpal (Agastya Nanda) breathed his last. When he questions how do you know in so much details about what happened to my son, he (Jaideep Ahlawat) says that he was the one who shot him down as he was busy ‘looking for the flash’. Both of them were true army men but from different countries and both were fighting for their motherland! ((Spoiler alert ends) This is in fact, one of the most compelling scenes from the entire film and handled with a lot of sensitivity. The most powerful and convincing and powerful performance is by Jaideep Ahlawat.
Nobody wants a war and there is nobody who actually wins in a war and a soldier from be it Pakistan or India thinks the same. Sriram Raghavan has handled this topic with utmost care. Ikkis is indeed a perfect New Year day movie to watch! It is indeed an emotionally wrenching films and it says so much more without actually the need to make a noise about it. Ikkis is just the kind of war-drama we need in this ruptured mainstream cinema scenario. This film is a restrained and nuanced take on the true story of war.
Rating: 4 out of 5
WATCH the trailer of ‘Ikkis’ here:
Lachmi Deb Roy is the Entertainment Editor of Firstpost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. She is a 'Rotten Tomatoes' certified critic. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes a huge interest in world cinema. She has been the winner of the prestigious Laadli Media and Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity for two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until it's a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too.