Anupama Chopra reviews Ikka, directed by Siddharth P Malhotra and starring Sunny Deol, for The Hollywood Reporter India. More than three decades after his National Award-winning turn as a lawyer in Damini, Sunny returns to the courtroom as Arjun Mehra — a lawyer who has never lost a case, and never defended a criminal. With firm strides, dapper jackets and sunglasses sometimes worn indoors, Arjun is essentially the lawyer as rockstar, called Ikka for turning around verdicts at the last minute. But Anupama notes the intriguing twist the film gives Sunny's screen persona of moral certainty: he plays a good man on the wrong side, forced by implausible circumstances to defend Shauryamann Gaur, the entitled, sardonic, spoilt son of a politician, played by Akshaye Khanna — whose presence immediately makes the frame interesting, and who delivers one deliciously nasty scene with great finesse.
Anupama finds that Ikka isn't smart, but it's twisty enough to keep you guessing, with suspense maintained through thunderous background music, reveals and counter-reveals. Tillotama Shome's presence as junior lawyer Madhura helps ground the plot, especially post-interval as the story becomes more convoluted and less interesting, though ultimately the men play each other and Madhura remains a minor player. The screenplay by Althea Kaushal and dialogue by Mayank Tewari never give Arjun that one epic monologue, and the film's laudable bat-for-women ideas feel more performative than organic — but seeing Arjun vulnerable and afraid, especially with his wife played by Dia Mirza, is refreshing. Her THR Bottomline: in interviews, Siddharth mentioned possibilities of an Ikka franchise — she looks forward to that, and it would be fun to see Arjun solving more cases, but she hopes the writing gets sharper. Ikka is now streaming on Netflix.
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