Ikka movie review: Sunny Deol, Akshaye Khanna's film lacks real legal spark, delivers drama instead

Sunny Deol and Tilottama Shome playing opposing lawyers in a very commercial thriller is a promising premise for an engaging watch. In Siddharth P Malhotra’s Ikka, Deol plays a hot-shot successful lawyer Arjun Mehra defending a murder accussed Shauryaman Gaur, played by Akshaye Khanna, while Shome plays the prosecutor of the case. The two come from very different schools of cinema, and thus, seeing them share screen space in a film holds a lot of promise. But does Ikka, a Netflix film, deliver? Let’s find out.

What’s the plot of Ikka

A young woman in a semi-conscious state is thrown out of a black car in the middle of the night, and Shouryaman Gaur (Khanna) is arrested on charges of attempted murder. The woman was last seen exiting a nightclub with Shourya and all evidence, as well as eyewitnesses, indicates that he is the culprit. Hotshot lawyer Arjun Mehra is hired to defend Shourya. Arjun is a man known to crack the toughest of cases, but is also very righteous. Mehra, initially reluctant to take up Shourya’s case, ends up defending him in court due to some personal reasons.

While he is defending a criminal in court, he is also battling personal issues at home. He and his wife (Dia Mirza) have to cope with their daughter’s terminal illness, which needs urgent treatment. Shourya, a manipulative man, compels Arjun to fight his case, knowing very well about Arjun’s personal crisis.

Meanwhile, public prosecutor Madhura Banerj (Shome) is aware of the public pressure the case carries. Having admired Arjun Mehra from a distance all her career, she is nervous to be fighting the case against him but also curious to understand the motive behind his taking up an open-and-shut case.

Arjun, known as ‘Ikka’ for his sharp mind and his ability to twist an obvious case, has to not only defend a man who he knows is wrong but also win a case that seems impossible to turn around. He also has to fight morality and what he deems to be right because he has a family to protect.

What works and what does not

Siddharth P Malhotra, who has made films like Maharaj and Hichki in the past, is known to present layered stories. His films are social, delivering strong messages. His characters have backstories and layers which enrich the narrative.

In Ikka too, the principal characters all have backstories, which made them the way they are. A working wife is struggling to strike a balance between home and work, being the sole earning member of the family. Her husband has lost his job in Covid and at home, struggling to keep the house running. Another woman has to bury a traumatic past and a toxic relationship to build a safe future. Ikka’s characters are all dealing with personal demons, making the plot more twisted and compelling.

Writers Althea Kaushal and Mayank Tewari build a compelling premise, where a successful lawyer has to ignore the foundation of morality on which he has built his career just to protect his family and defend a man he loathes. It's complicated, but he must deliver just for his daughter. The plot thickens when the prosecution presents one credible witness after another, yet Arjun has to fight the truth and nail it to prove the case otherwise.

Tilottama Shome plays the nervous Madhura Banerjee to a T. She is awestruck in the presence of Deol’s Arjun Mathur and has to constantly struggle to keep her act together. No false note of Madhura at any point.

Khanna, who has been rediscovered by the nation after Dhurandhar, plays a mean, manipulative, entitled brat to perfection. But in many scenes, Khanna is just existing, in the court, sitting quietly with not much to do.

The film is centred around Deol, who is part convincing as Arjun Mathur. The actor resorts to theatrics at some moments, which is synonymous with the actor. Those moments, where he is angrily banging on tables and other hard surfaces, seem rather out of place. But it is still refreshing to see him playing an ordinary man and not an angry soldier defending his motherland for a change.

Since it is intended to be a hardcore commercial masala thriller, logic sometimes takes flight and melodrama seeps in. At one point near the climax, Shome is seen rampwalking down with an entourage of policemen, just to arrest a man. Unnecessary and overdramatic.

Then Deol’s dynamics with his wife, Dia Mirza and his daughter seem half-baked. You are showing the man going great lengths in order to save his daughter, yet there is zero chemistry between the father and daughter on screen. The film promises to be a courtroom drama, but the makers take ample liberty and make Ikka more a story of complex relationships.

Final Verdict

Ikka is not as engaging as a courtroom drama should be. It is sans any peak moment of revelations or twists. However, the film isn’t a snooze fest either. I wish the actors were better utilised with a better screenplay in place, but Ikka has its moments, with the last 30 minutes of the film being the most engaging.

Ikka is now streaming on Netflix.