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.

Abhishek Anil KapurAdil HussainAkshay Kumarmovie reviewSandeep KewlaniSky ForceThe StorytellerWatch party