Thumbs up,
by Subhash K Jha,
…At the end, Ikkis leaves a lingering feeling of hope against the futility of war. Some quietly effective performances, especially Jaideep Ahlawat as a soldier torn between loyalty and compassion, elevate the less inspired passages of the storytelling….
Thumbs up,
…Ikkis is ultimately a meditation on bravery, grief, and humanity. It honors sacrifice without glorifying violence and respects history without weaponizing it. By choosing empathy, reflection, and memory over spectacle or patriotism, the film achieves a rare balance, reminding us that true heroism is not only about battlefield feats but also about the choices, memories, and legacies left behind…
Thumbs up,
by Simran Singh,
DNA
:
…Ikkis is more than a war film – it speaks of love, duty, grief, and belonging, emotions that transcend borders and uniforms. By choosing empathy over aggression and memory over messaging, the film achieves something rare….
Thumbs up,
by Devesh Sharma,
Filmfare
:
…Agastya Nanda, making his big-screen debut as Arun Khetarpal, does a credible job embodying the eagerness and idealism of an army kid raised on war stories. His arc, from youthful bravado to grim resolve, is shaped convincingly through training sequences and battlefield reality….
Thumbs up,
…The background score mirrors the film’s understated tone, subtly enhancing moments of tension, loss, and reflection without overpowering them. War sequences rely on natural sound design, while the 2001 portions use sparse, contemplative music. The dialogue remains measured and purposeful, resonating through honesty rather than heightened drama….
Thumbs up,
by Lachmi Deb Roy,
…Sriram Raghavan has handled this topic with utmost care. Ikkis is indeed a perfect New Year day movie to watch! It is indeed an emotionally wrenching films and it says so much more without actually the need to make a noise about it. Ikkis is just the kind of war-drama we need in this ruptured mainstream cinema scenario. This film is a restrained and nuanced take on the true story of war….
Thumbs up,
by Kabir Singh Bhandari,
…Never did I feel that the music during the war scenes was overdone. The tempo for each moment—whether it is the tank fights, the emotionally charged instances, or any other—adds to the storytelling, never venturing into the melodramatic zone….
Thumbs up,
by Nitin Jain,
…Music and background score play a vital role in sustaining this emotional undercurrent. The score never overwhelms; it creates mood, enhances tension, and gently carries the narrative forward. The songs feel like a breeze — unforced, purposeful, and in rhythm with the film’s emotional arc. They bring energy where needed and restraint where silence speaks louder….
Thumbs up,
by Rishabh Suri,
…Overall, Ikkis works best when it stops trying to be a war film and becomes a painful reminder. It tells you something unbearable: that our freedoms were bought by people who never got to live theirs. You leave the theatre not uplifted or proud, but hollowed out. And that ache, the kind that sits in your chest long after, is its most devastating triumph. The silence that follows the final scene is not cinematic. It is grief for a son who never came home, for a father who lived long enough to carry that loss… for a country that remembers its heroes mostly in passing….
Thumbs up,
by Sana Farzeen,
…Debutant Simar Bhatia is promising, and her scenes with Agastya will genuinely make you blush. Together, they capture how young, first love often helps us grow and evolve, shaping who we want to be — or sometimes helping us realise what we don’t want to become. The supporting cast, including Vivaan Shah, Sikandar Kher and Rahul Dev, add their own flavour and further elevate Agastya’s performance….
Thumbs up,
India TV
:
…The screenplay by Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas and Pooja Ladha Surti is emotionally honest. Rather than defining bravery, the film allows viewers to feel it. However, the 143-minute runtime feels slightly stretched. Some subplots could have been tightened to improve pacing, especially in the second half, which leans heavily on emotional moments and could have used sharper editing….
Thumbs up,
by Ayush Srivastava,
…Ikkis is not about winning wars, but about understanding what they leave behind. It is a film that values empathy over anger and memory over messaging….
Thumbs up,
by Shubhra Gupta,
…Ultimately, Ikkis is a soothing balm of a film : the brave young soldier may have left this world much too soon, but what he leaves behind in his wake is a touch of healing….
Thumbs up,
by Rajiv Vijayakar,
koimoi
:
…Agastya Nanda is excellent in the main role—after all, he was the brightest spot even in his debut release (on OTT)—The Archies, and he is another actor who seems to go the natural, easy way, just like his reel father here. Here’s looking at a bright future for this lad.
Actual debutant Simar Bhatia as Kiran Kochhar shows very strong potential within the very limited time and scope she has, and her body language, voice, and facial expressions belie the fact that this is his debut film. With the right roles and directors, I am sure that she will go a long way. Sikander Kher makes for an effortless Sagat Singh. Rahul Dev as Lieutenant-Colonel Hanut Singh is impressive….
Thumbs up,
by Mayank Shekhar,
MiD DAY
:
…There’s such an unvarnished innocence about Nanda’s sincere screen presence that no extra drama could so viscerally drive home the film’s point. You say yes to the boy. You say no to war….
Thumbs up,
…Overall, Ikkis is a powerful, heartfelt war film that resonates in today’s action-driven cinematic landscape. By honoring the real-life hero Arun Khetarpal, it delivers both cinematic thrill and emotional depth. The closing montage of black-and-white photographs is a poignant tribute, leaving audiences with immense respect for a legend who will forever remain “21”—IKKIS….
Thumbs up,
by Saibal Chatterjee,
NDTV
:
…Ikkis will most definitely not command anything like the windfall that Dhurandhar has seen, but it is reassuring that Mumbai has not been emptied of filmmakers who will not swim with the tide and will dare to stick to their guns (the sort that fire shots of sanity) no matter what.
For that, and for much else, go out and watch Ikkis. It isn’t your average Hindi war film….
Thumbs up,
by Isha Sharma,
…Ikkis marks a genre shift for Raghavan, who’s best known for his neo-noir thrillers like Andhadhun and Ek Hasina Thi. He isn’t entirely successful, and Ikkis often struggles to engage, but its overarching theme, that war has no winners, trumps the drawbacks. The movie speaks for peace, and the honesty it reflects is hard to come by in Bollywood today….
Thumbs up,
by Sakshi Salil Chavan,
…Overall, Ikkis proves to be a fantastic palate cleanser to the nationalist drama genre, balancing the appetite for action with the very real human costs of war….
Thumbs up,
by Gayatri Nirmal,
…Watch it for the calm storytelling and as a respectful tribute to Dharmendra and Asrani….
Thumbs up,
by Mayur Sanap,
Rediff
:
…This could easily have stood out as one of the year’s better films had it released on its originally planned Christmas date. Still, Ikkis starts the 2026 movie calendar on a positive note….
Thumbs up,
by Renuka Vyavahare,
…Ikkis works as a warm, heartfelt tribute—not only to the nation’s bravehearts but also as a quiet acknowledgement of the late Dharmendra’s acting prowess and range, which was often underutilised over the course of his illustrious career. In a moving scene, he leaves you teary-eyed with the line, “Zindagi apna raasta bana hi leti hai.”…
