It is true, Akshay Kumar’s ‘Sky Force’ that releases this Friday has revived the audience’s interest in Bollywood war films that have been made before. We do not mean fairly recent releases like ‘Fighter’, ‘Sam Bahadur’, ‘Ghazi’ and ‘Shershaah’. But really old Hindi war films of the 60s, 70s and 80s that excited audiences which tell then thrived on romantic comedies, action and musicals. ‘Sky Force’, which stars Veer Pahariya, Nimrat Kaur and Sara Ali Khan alongside Akshay, will be a cut and class above them with slick aerial warfare like has never been seen before in Indian cinema. Though the film is on the 1965 Indo-Pak war and tells a story of heroism and sacrifice that is 60 years old. Among the films that PeepingMoon.com found in the archives are…

1. Haqeeqat (1962)

The film is based on the 1962 Sino-Indian War and tells the story of a small soldier group that fought a bigger enemy in Ladakh. It depicts the Battle of Rezang La, in which the brave soldiers of Ahir Company, 13 Kumaon led by Major Shaitan Singh put up the final fight. ‘Haqeeqat’ was directed by Chetan Anand and starred Dharmendra, Balraj Sahni and others.

2. Hum Dono (1961)

The film depicts the role of Indian soldiers in Burma during World War II. It tells the story of the disappearance of Major Verma, who stands alone to save his troops from the invading Japanese Army. The film had Dev Anand in a double role and also featured actors like Nanda, Sadhana and Leela Chitnis.

3. Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973)

The film is based on Operation Cactus Lily during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. Directed by Chetan Anand, it featured Raj Kumar, Amrish Puri and Parikshat Sahni in lead roles. It even had Amjad Khan who became famous two years later with ‘Sholay’.

4. Saat Hindustani (1969)

The film is best known for being Amitabh Bachchan’s debut. It depicts the courageous story of seven Indians who liberated Goa from Portuguese colonial rule. The film stars Madhu, Utpal Dutt, Jalal Agha, Anwar Ali, and Madhukar.

5. Aakraman (1975)

This film was one of the first big multi-starrers and had Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Farida Jalal, Sujit Kumar, Asrani, Keshto Mukherjee, Mumtaz Shanti and Rajesh Khanna. It tells the story of an army officer who is redeployed to his unit just before his engagement. At the war front he meets an old friend and finds a photograph of his fiancée in his friend's belongings.

6. Vijeta (1982)

‘Vijeta’ is a coming-of-age story in which a young man named has to decide what he wants to do with his life. It was made with a star cast including Shashi Kapoor, his son Kunal Kapoor, Rekha, Amrish Puri, Supriya Pathak and K.K. Raina.