Aerial Patriotism

Sky Force | Director:Abhishek Anil Kapur, Sandeep Kewlani | Cast: Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya

MAGNIFICENT MEN riding their bikes, the road reflecting on their aviators. A friend goes down in an air battle, the entire squadron mourns and vows to take revenge. The enemies are awful Pakistanis who don’t play by the rules of the game. Why are we reviewing 2024’s Fighter? No, this is SkyForce, an updated version, set in 1965, based on an actual air battle. Now that the Indian Air Force has thrown open its doors to Mumbai cinema to show its boys in an adequately glamorous light and to aid recruitment, expect many versions of this: young pup (here played by debutante Veer Pahariya, with a certain old world charm) and grizzled boss (played by Akshay Kumar, in search of the next big patriotic vehicle to stay afloat at the box office), with some tear-inducing songs played in the background. Lots of battles in artificial skies, lots of tears streaming down the cheeks of grown men, and wistful women waiting at home, in their pearls and Kanjeevarams. Yes, yes, cue the violins, and play the sad songs, maestro.

Streaming Smart

Telling Tall Tales
The Storyteller | Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan | Cast: Paresh Rawal, Adil Hussain | Disney+Hotstar

There is a moral in the story somewhere and it comes almost towards the end of the film: the capitalism of Gujarat needs the storytelling of Bengal to survive. Based on a story by Satyajit Ray, The Storyteller is a clever take on the clash between commerce and art. A cotton baron from Ahmedabad seeks a storyteller from Bengal to put him to sleep—something that has been eluding him for the past 30 years. The storyteller from Kolkata, jaded with his widower’s life, decides to undertake the adventure and settles down in the cotton baron’s mansion, tell­ing him a new story every night. Are these his own, or do they belong to someone else? Good artists copy, says the enigmatic storyteller, great artists steal. Paresh Rawal and Adil Hussain play the storyteller and cotton baron respectively and there is a smart cameo by Revathy. It’s a slow burning delight.

Abhishek Anil KapurAdil HussainAkshay Kumarmovie reviewSandeep KewlaniSky ForceThe StorytellerWatch party