Theatre exit following the viewing of Ikkis left me with a heavy lump in my throat. Was it the bittersweet realisation that we were witnessing the last bow of the legendary Dharmendra?

Definitely. Was it the film itself? To a certain extent. But most of all it was the burden of the truth.

Gradually, you realize that the hero in the film, 21-year-old PVC Arun Khetarpal, is not just a character but a synonym for the kind of courage that almost seems to belong to the realm of legends nowadays.

The narrative alone is the reason for the success of this film by Sriram Raghavan. (A little trivia: producer Dinesh Vijan had two scripts for the director, one of which was Badlapur 2. Sriram picked this one instead.)

Ikkis background

Ikkis opens with a flashback to 1971. Arun (Agastya Nanda) a tank commander is leading his unit to the war front in confrontation with Pakistan.

In the present which is very close after the Kargil War his father Brigadier ML Khetarpal (Dharmendra), is in Pakistan for a college reunion.

Naturally, the atmosphere is tense. He is the guest of Brigadier Khwaja Mohammed Naseer (Jaideep Ahlawat) and his family and Naseer’s wife is constantly pressing him not to disclose a certain dark fact to Sr Khetarpal.

The events that ensue make up the rest of the story.