A group of Indian fighter pilots, led by Om Ahuja (Akshay Kumar), is tasked with the destruction of a fleet of modern American F-104 Starfighters at the Sargodha airbase in the 1965 war. Meanwhile, a young pilot T Krishna Vijaya (Veer Pahariya), disobeys orders and ventures into enemy territory to rescue his fellow pilots. Haunted by the disappearance of his protégé, Ahuja embarks on a quest to uncover the truth while facing resistance and bureaucratic hurdles.

A film releasing close to Republic Day and starring the new-age Bharat Kumar, the poster boy of patriotism Akshay Kumar, and you enter the cinema halls with a bit of dread. But you are pleasantly surprised both by the storyline and the fact that though the film harks back to the 1965 Indo-Pak war, there is no overt Pakistan-bashing or screechy jingoism. ‘Sky Force’, based on true events — actually the Indian Air Force’s retaliatory attack on Pakistan’s Sargodha airfield — tells the story simply, without too many theatrical excesses. Prior to the release, it has been drawing comparisons with last year’s Republic Day release, ‘Fighter’. However, except for some finely executed aerial action set pieces and dogfights, there isn’t much to compare, both in good and bad ways.

This week last year, a film released that seemed to epitomise popular Hindi cinema’s decline over a decade. Fighter might have set out to cash in on the success of Top Gun: Maverick, but it played like an advertisement for the sitting government at the centre. Releasing months before the general elections, the film—like Uri: The Surgical Strike in 2019—showed the prime minister as capable commander in chief while engaging in hysterical Pakistan-baiting. “Unhe dikhaana padega ki baap kaun hai (we’ll show them who daddy is),” the PM in the film says, a statesman-like sentiment befitting a Republic Day release. Sky Force also takes a ‘baap’ jab at Pakistan, but it’s a half-hearted swipe. As a fighter pilot film releasing on the weekend of 26 January, there are certain jingoistic beats directors Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapur must feel they have to hit. And they do, but their heart isn’t in it. On the face of it, there’s not much to recommend this film—it’s underwritten, square and tries to pull off elaborate action on a clearly insufficient budget. But where Fighter tends towards rabid nationalism, Sky Force stumbles awkwardly in search of reconciliation.

There are two ways to be disappointed with Sky Force. One, through the lens of its creators. Up until now, the production company Maddock Films — on a high following the dizzying success of its horror-comedy multiverse — has managed to innovate and stay interesting without conforming to mass trends and jingoistic patterns. It’s worth noting that Sky Force is its first real foray into this zone. But within the contours of the herd-mentality move, it tries something different. It chooses to dramatise a real-life story that’s equal parts war movie and investigative drama.

A year ago, almost to the day, when Fighter released and didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, director Siddharth Anand put forth a bizarre claim. He said that the Hrithik Roshan-Deepika Padukone starrer, described by its makers as “India’s first aerial action film”, had not found much favour with the audience because “90 per cent of Indians haven’t flown in planes”. By that logic, one would have to be an Italian mafioso to appreciate The Godfather. The good thing is that you don’t have to sign up for a fighter pilot licence before you walk in for a show of Sky Force. This bi-annual Akshay Kumar deshbhakti dose — ‘a fictional story inspired by real events’ — has the kind of thrill and drama that every viewer, brought up on a steady diet of Bollywood patriotic films, is familiar with. Which is both a good and a bad thing.

There is honour among enemies – sometimes. When the Indian Air Force captures decorated Pakistani officer Wing Commander Hussain Ahmed (Sharad Kelkar) in the 1971 war, Wing Commander Om Ahuja (Akshay Kumar) interrogates him. And learns that Ahmed got his gallantry award for shooting down an Indian aircraft in the Sargodha attack in 1965. But the Pak officer won’t reveal anything more. After the ceasefire, Ahmed is sent back to Pakistan. India has acted honorably with a PoW. The downing of the Indian aircraft in Sargodha opens unhealed old wounds.