‘Ikka’ movie review: Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna play an old hand with conviction

Packaged as a modern, gritty OTT thriller, Ikka leans heavily on the core DNA of commercial Hindi cinema, a formula that has increasingly been reduced to mere nostalgia. Fuelled by the star-versus-star dynamic, its narrative weight rests on the explosive chemistry between Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna. Physical dominance and moral integrity meet cold stillness and sharp smirks as Netflix, perhaps, wants to test and capture the appetite of a massive, single-screen mass audience. As a result, the recent box office success of Sunny and Akshaye seems to have prompted the makers to dress up a decade-old story to add a new section to the OTT library.

At its heart is Arjun Mehra (Sunny Deol), a towering, righteous defence lawyer who is forced into a moral trap when circumstances force him to defend a murder suspect, Shauryamann (Akshaye Khanna). Known to fight for what is right, Arjun’s gut feeling and past experience tell him that Shauryamann is in the wrong, but to save what is precious to him and his wife, Avantika (Dia Mirza), he needs to compromise on his values.

For a change, the courtroom drama forces a usually combative Sunny into a tight moral corner, with possibilities of exploring internal panic, doubt, and helplessness that his fans of yore can relate to. Early in the film, when Arjun says he wants butter chicken but his daughter roots for Sushi, one feels Sunny has got a slightly new recipe to work with.

Akshaye Khann in ‘Ikka’
| Photo Credit:
Netflix

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In fact, it is the petite Tillotama Shome, who turns up with ‘dhai kilo ka hath’, that we usually associate with Sunny, as the rookie prosecution lawyer, Madhura. The commercial space is not exactly meant for her, but with her naturalistic intervention, Tillotama proves to be an efficient disruptor in the man’s world.

Post Dhurandhar, Akshaye’s facial contortions and twitchy mannerisms haven’t lost their menacing intensity. With lower stakes, Shourya certainly feels less dangerous than Rehman Dakait, but Akshaye turns him into an effective, mean and manipulative counterpoint to Sunny’s swagger.

Director Siddharth P Malhotra takes a while to set up his pieces, but once writers Althea Kaushal and Mayank Tiwari begin dropping the twists, the narrative momentum pulls you in. The verbal volleys in the make-believe court provide a guilty pleasure. With his background in family dramas, Malhotra’s rhythm and pacing make it clear you are watching a charged domestic melodrama rather than the cold, clinical murder mystery that has become the norm these days. The narrative meat lies in the triangle Avantika forms with Arjun and Shauryamann, but Malhotra fails to fully explore the emotional toll of these events on her, choosing to ignore the deeper fractures within that dynamic.

It is an uneven ride. While the penultimate twist lands with genuine surprise because it relies on intellect, hidden motives, and a clever manipulation of the facts, the final touch, however, is more about maintaining the image of Sunny as the undisputed ace as the makers abandon complex logic to ensure his character stands tall, vindicated, and emotionally triumphant.

Ikka is currently streaming on Netflix.