Akshay Kumar and Veer Pahariya's Republic Day release, Sky Force, has received an outstanding opening at the box office. For Akshay, the film has secured his second-highest opening in recent years.
Directed by Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapoor, the patriotic drama is based on the true story of the late Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya, who died during a strike mission in Pakistan in 1965.
Sky Force box office:
Released on Jan 24, the patriotic drama has fetched double digits on the first day of it's release, earning Rs 15.30 crore (153 million).
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Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh wrote, ''#SkyForce experienced slow movement during the morning and noon shows but saw a sharp increase in occupancy during the evening and night shows. Urban centres, mainly multiplexes, contributed a significant share to the Day 1 biz [outstanding], while mass circuits remained ordinary to low... A higher total is expected on Saturday, with Sunday [#RepublicDay] projected to deliver the best results.''
#SkyForce hits double digits on Friday, surpassing ALL *pre-release* expectations and predictions, aided by discounted ticket rates.#SkyForce experienced slow movement during the morning and noon shows but saw a sharp increase in occupancy during the evening and night shows.… pic.twitter.com/s34D87YaJT
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 25, 2025
Since the past three years, Akshay has been facing a major setback with consecutive flops. However, Sky Force has given a fillip to this dim phase.
'SKY FORCE' BRINGS AKSHAY KUMAR BACK INTO THE SPOTLIGHT... EMERGES AS THE SECOND-HIGHEST OPENER IN THE *PAST 3 YEARS*... *Day 1* biz...
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 25, 2025
2022
⭐️ #BachchhanPaandey: ₹ 13.25 cr
⭐️ #SamratPrithviraj: ₹ 10.70 cr
⭐️ #RakshaBandhan: ₹ 8.20 cr
⭐️ #RamSetu: 15.25 cr
2023
⭐️ #Selfiee:… pic.twitter.com/PGJXcnfLN0
As per Adarsh, Sky Force is Akshay's second-highest opener in the past three years.
About Sky Force
The action drama is based on India’s first airstrike at the Sargodha airbase in Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965.
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The film revolves around Wing Commander K.O Ahuja (Akshay Kumar), who leaves no stone unturned to find out the truth about what happened to squadron pilot, T.Krishnan Vijaya aka Tabby (Veer Pahariya), who went missing during the Sargodha mission.
WION's Review of Sky Force
Written by Paul Austin, Sandeep Kelwani and Aamil Keeyan Khan, the movie's graph progresses from low to high. While the first half is packed with heroic moments, the actual story unfolds in the second half, making things more interesting by the end.
The 2-hour, 5-minute runtime is evenly distributed between heroism and realism, keeping the audience engaged with the story. While much of the movie focuses on how the IAF carried out the historic airstrike against Pakistan and the courage shown by Devayya at that time, comparatively less attention is given to the story that follows after he went missing. Read full review here.