Movie Review: Ikka: Sunny Deol gave his all, but ‘Dhai Kilo Ka Haath’ also looks helpless in front of a weak script.

Courtroom dramas have always been a favorite of the audience. The presence of strong actors like Sunny Deol and Akshay Khanna increases the expectations from ‘Ikka’. The film keeps you engaged in the beginning, but as it progresses, it gets trapped in its own complications. By the end it becomes more melodrama than courtroom drama. The length of this film, released directly on OTT platform Netflix instead of theatres, is 2 hours 20 minutes. Dainik Bhaskar gave the film 2 out of 5 stars. How is the story of the film? Arjun Mehra (Sunny Deol) is a lawyer who has never fought a case in his career against a person whom he considers wrong. But circumstances force him to defend Shauryaman (Akshay Khanna). Shauryaman is accused of fatally attacking a girl. From here the story tries to show the battle between law, morality and justice. The beginning is interesting and raises many questions. But after the interval, the film repeatedly resorts to new twists and revelations. Many twists seem more a compulsion of the script than the story. Till the climax the film starts explaining too much and this is where its impact becomes weak. How is the acting of the star cast? The biggest reason to watch ‘Ikka’ is Sunny Deol. After a long time, he is seen not just as an angry hero but as a character who is troubled from within. Many of his scenes in the courtroom leave an impact and it is clearly visible that he has worked hard on the character. Akshay Khanna is seen in his special style. His body language and dialogue delivery make the character strong, but at many places his performance seems similar. Tilottama Shome acts with restraint and makes her presence felt in many scenes. Dia Mirza and Sanjeeda Shaikh’s roles are limited, so they don’t leave much of an impact. How is the direction and technical side? Sidharth P. Malhotra had a good subject, but he could not maintain the balance while bringing it on screen. The courtroom debates could have made an impact, but excessive background music, long dialogues and emotional scenes reduced their impact. What disappoints the most is the script of the film. Every once in a while a new witness, new evidence and a new revelation comes. After some time, these twists become tiring instead of surprising. The film feels long and many scenes could have easily been shortened. How is the music? The music of the film does not last long with the story. The background score is excessively high at many places. If only the performance of the actors had been relied upon in the courtroom scenes, the impact would have been greater. Where is the lack left? The biggest problem of ‘Ikka’ is not its story, but the way of telling it. Instead of trusting the audience, the film starts explaining everything. Every emotional moment is overly sentimental and every twist is overdrawn. The result is that the story which could have been a deep debate about law and justice, gradually turns into melodrama. Final Verdict, watch or not? ‘Ikka’ has a strong cast, a good theme and some courtroom scenes that leave an impact. But the weak script, excessive melodrama and long climax do not allow the film to reach the point where it could have reached. Sunny Deol tries to handle the film with all sincerity, but this time his ‘Dhai Kilo Ka Haath’ also seems helpless in front of the weak script.



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