Ikka Film Review: When a suspense thriller or legal drama hits Netflix, there is an excitement in the heart before picking up the remote that you will get to see something new and explosive. But after watching the film ‘Ikka’, all that excitement cools down. Director Siddharth P Malhotra, who has made powerful films like Maharaj, has made a film which considers itself the king of suspense, but all its cards are revealed in the first fifteen minutes. The film has Sunny Deol’s roar and Akshay Khanna’s old villain swag, but the story does not have the power to keep you engaged. If you give your final verdict in one line, then ‘Ikka’ is a completely beaten card, if you fall into the trap of picking up the remote, then after the film is over, you will only ask for your precious time and weekend data back. If you also want to know the real reality of this courtroom conflict between Sunny Deol and Akshay Khanna, then read this entire review till the end!
Story
A girl named Soma (Akanksha Ranjan Kapoor) is comfortably enjoying a night out with rich prince Shauryaman (Akshay Khanna). But, in the next moment, such a tragedy happens that he is thrown out of a speeding luxury car. Soma is found half-dead on the roadside and this case overnight becomes the biggest ‘high-profile’ case of the country, in which politics, money and power are involved.
Now enters this case of our Arjun (Sunny Deol), who is the most famous principled defense lawyer of the city. When Arjun steps inside the courtroom in a black coat, the audience sitting in the theater is directly reminded of lawyer Govind from the 90s cult film ‘Damini’. In his very first debate, Arjun delivers heavy dialogues about how these rich and influential people roam around with the law in their pockets. He also takes a dig at the image of lawyers that people think that lawyers only run after money, whereas it is not so – lawyers can also fight for the truth! So far the matter seems quite tight. But the twist is that due to the raita spread in Arjun’s personal life, he has to fight the case of a similar rich man.
In fact, during a big trial, his daughter’s nose starts bleeding. Now brother, if you have watched even a little bit of crying Bollywood movies in your childhood, then even before you hear from the doctor that “This is such a fatal disease which can be treated only by the stem cells of the parents”, you will yourself predict the name of the disease and the entire drama ahead. The situation becomes such that due to the heavy expenses of his daughter’s treatment and his old past, Arjun has to fight the case of the same Shauryaman whom he hates. After this, a game of old enmity and tears begins in the courtroom, more than the evidence, to know which you will have to watch this film on Netflix.
How is the movie?
The biggest weakness of ‘Ikka’ is that the team that wrote its script has taken the audience as completely ignorant. In the last hour of the film, the makers throw so many ‘twists and turns’ to surprise you that your head becomes dizzy. The screenplay repeatedly screams, “Doubt what you see!” But the real interesting thing is that the twist that is going to come in the climax is clearly visible to the audience from a mile away. What the makers were presenting on screen considering it a masterstroke, has become a simple joke in the age of social media.
After watching the entire film, it seems that director Siddharth P Malhotra wanted to cook everything in one pan. He also wanted courtroom drama, murder mystery suspense, father-daughter tears and at the same time had to make social commentary on the rich people of the country. Now, if you mix biryani, noodles and gulab jamun and serve them all together in the same plate, then the taste will definitely get spoiled, boss! The film keeps changing its lanes every ten minutes, making the story seem fragmented and tiresome instead of gripping (strong).
direction
Looking at the direction of director Siddharth P Malhotra, it seems that he himself was confused whether he is making part-2 of Sunny Deol’s ‘Damini’ or a modern-day thriller. He has kept the visuals of the film good, but his hand was completely lax in tightening the story. Especially the emotional scenes, where the girl’s mother (Jyoti Mukherjee) cries in front of Arjun that there is no greater pain than losing a child. These scenes seem so old-fashioned that instead of melting the hearts of the audience, they start getting bored. The entire structure of direction is so loud that it feels less like a courtroom and more like a fish market.
acting
Sunny Deol (Arjun) is once again looking good in the lawyer’s black coat. The funniest thing is that in the film, he has played the lawyer of a rich man who is accused of rape, but still Paaji does not compromise with his ‘character’. He does not allow character assassination of the victim in the court and when a witness tries to talk nonsense about the girl, Sunny Paaji’s old ‘angry young man’ of the 90s awakens. He roars in the courtroom so much that even the judge hides his hammer! Seeing Paaji shouting may be fun for his fans, but there is nothing new in it.
Looking at Akshay Khanna (Shauryaman), it seems that he has changed his clothes from the sets of his old film ‘Dhurandhar’ and has entered the film directly as the villain ‘Rahman Dacoit’! The long pause deliberately taken while speaking the same dialogue, looking sideways, walking with a slight bow and that permanent pride on the face, all are exactly the same. The limit was reached when in one scene even the background dancer is seen doing that old viral dance step of Akshay Khanna. Instead of making him act, the makers have tried to cash in on the popularity of his old character, which looks a bit strange in the role of a spoiled nobleman at this age.
The entry of Tilottama Shome (Madhu Bose) breathes a little life into the story. She comes to the court with a sling tied on her hand and jokingly says in front of Sunny Paaji that she too has a ‘two and a half kilo hand’. Tilottama has made the court scenes a little interesting with his comic and sharp timing.
It has been a complete injustice to the characters of other female actors. As tough as Tilottama is in the court, as soon as she returns home, she is transformed into a typical Bengali wife, who is preparing breakfast for her unemployed husband, wearing a saree and wearing a shankha-pola. Sanjeeda Sheikh had nothing special to do. Whereas Dia Mirza was reduced to the stereotypical role of a ‘caring mother’, whose job was only to act as a bridge between Akshay and Sunny’s characters.
see or not
Every second scene of Ikka is so predictable that you can say the next line yourself. The entire track about the daughter’s illness is terribly trite. In today’s era when the audience prefers realistic and crisp drama, the film has been filled with loud hue and cry like in the 90s.
Akshay Khanna’s old villain style and Sunny Deol’s same shouting mode do not serve anything new.
Overall, if after hearing the name ‘Ikka’ you are logging on to Netflix thinking that you will get to watch some vicious and mind-blowing legal thriller, then save both your precious data and time. This ‘ace’ is so breathless that after seeing it you will say – ‘Brother, we would have been better off with Joker only!’ These days, many times more real suspense, fierce drama and intense conflict can be seen in ‘Lockup’ on Netflix itself, so why break your head over this two decade old stale story? There you get real action and entertainment without any clichéd melodrama! Sunny Deol’s fans can run it in the background to watch his shouting mode while completing their household work, otherwise he is not at all an ace to sit back and watch.
Leave a Reply