Ikkis is not a usual war film. It definitely focuses on the battle, but at the same time, there's another track set many years later. This track, involving Dharmendra, is a one-of-a-kind and plays a huge role. Sriram Raghavan, known for murder thrillers, gets into a new territory and succeeds. He executes the war scenes with finesse and saves the best for the last 30 minutes. On the flipside, the first half is just alright. The back-and-forth narrative seems a bit disjointed in some scenes. The film gets too technical and moreover, the songs and love track don't work. Agastya Nanda shows a marked improvement and delivers a restrained yet highly impactful performance. The late Dharmendra has a very lengthy screen time and is very adorable. The impact is obviously more since he's no more. Jaideep Ahlawat is like the third hero of the film, and he’s terrific as always, though he doesn't look like a man in his late 20s or early 30s. Simar Bhatia (Kiran Kochar) makes a confident debut, though she's let down by the writing. Rahul Dev (Lt Col Hanut Singh), Sikandar Kher (RIS Sagat Singh), Vivaan Shah (Captain Vijender Malhotra), Ekavali Khanna (Maryam) and Avani Rai (Saba) play important characters and do very well. Deepak Dobriyal (Jehangir) and the late Asrani (Asghar) appear in a scene and they are fair. All in all, Ikkis falters in the first half but is worth watching for the last 30 minutes and Dharmendra's final act.

My rating - *** ½ out of 5!