Last Republic Day, Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone’s Fighter had given us a sleek air force movie full of dogfights and good-looking people in uniform and aviators, along with a dose of patriotism. This year we have more of the same from Sky Force, which focuses on two pilots and an eventful air strike on Pakistan during the 1965 war.

For yet another vehicle for Akshay Kumar to show off his patriotism, Sky Force, directed by Abhishek Anil Kapur and Sandeep Kewlani, surprisingly keeps the jingoism to a minimum. There is more attention on keeping the peace and honour among enemies than the “ghar mein ghus ke marenge” sentiment.

A fictionalised account of a true incident, Sky Force opens with a Pakistani airstrike on an Indian Air Force base in 1971 and the capture of Pakistani pilot Ahmed Hussain (Sharad Kelkar). Akshay plays Wing Commander Om Ahuja (a fictionalisation of O.P. Taneja) who questions Hussain about an Indian pilot who went missing after the Sargodha airstrike in 1965.

The film flashbacks to 1965, introducing the audience to the brave pilots of Squadron 1, led by Ahuja. A series of dogfights with planes and pilots trying to outdo each other in training will bring Top Gun to mind as will T. Krishna Vijaya (Veer Pahariya’s Bollywood debut), a hot-headed, rule-breaking, ‘maverick’ squadron leader.

Based on the character of Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya, the only Indian Air Force officer to be posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, Vijaya should have been the focus of Sky Force but in catering to Akshay’s star status, the character is reduced to a handful of aerial acrobatics and even fewer emotional scenes. But Pahariya does well to make an impact with whatever little he has been given to do.

The first half of the 125-minute film whooshes by with well-executed aerial battles and explosive ground action. The attack on the Sargodha air base led by Akshay’s Ahuja, a tricky run when done with planes inferior to that of Pakistan’s, is especially well done with proper build-up of tension.

However, there is very little emotional heft in the first half. All you have is token camaraderie and tension within the group, so you hardly get to know any of the other squadron members. Ahuja and Vijaya’s mentor-protege interactions and the ones between Ahuja and Pakistani soldier Hussain are the only moments that add flavour to a half that otherwise works like a war documentary.

It is only in the second half, when the film takes an investigative turn, that Sky Force finds its heart. After Vijaya disobeys orders and follows the team leading the Sargodha attack, his plane is brought down. He goes missing in action and is presumed dead. The rest of the film dedicates itself to uncovering what actually happened to Vijaya.

Ahuja, who never gave up on looking for his protege, goes on a hunt across the world for the truth, based on a tip-off by the captured, then released Ahmed Hussain. The hunt leads him to discover that Vijaya held off and destroyed a far superior plane using sheer skills, something that allowed the rest of the squadron to return to base safely. Ahuja’s campaign ends with a posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra in recognition of Vijaya’s bravery and skill.

Akshay is without doubt a one-man show in this film, lending emotional depth when needed without melodramatising. But this one-man focus does injustice to new entrant Pahariya. The less said about the women in the film — Nimrat Kaur as Ahuja’s wife Preeti and Sara Ali Khan as Geeta, Vijaya’s pregnant wife — the better since they only serve as reminders that the men in uniform also have families.