War history, masterfully told onscreen

Ikkis is a war drama based on the true story of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, India's youngest Param Vir Chakra awardee, who laid down his life at the age of 21 in the 1971 India-Pakistan War during the Battle of Basantar.

- Kabir Singh Bhandari

Actors' Performances

Ikkis switches between the present (just after the Kargil War, post-1999), when Brigadier ML Khetarpal, Arun's father, played by Dharmendra, visits Pakistan to meet Brigadier Khwaja Mohammed Naseer of the Pakistan Army, played by Jaideep Ahlawat, and the past (1971, during the war.)

The movie makes you emotional on various occasions, a majority of them when Dharmendra is on screen. I don't know whether to call this his best performance or to give credit to Sriram Raghavan for using him in a manner in which, at least in my experience, I haven't seen him utilized this well in an emotionally charged role. Or is it a combination of both?

Rahul Dev plays the role of the stoic Lt Col Hanut Singh, in a way that makes you feel he might as well be an army man in real life.

Sikander Kher has a roughly 60-second intro scene, which is excellent because of its mix of surprise and humour.