Akshay Kumar is back! Like Wing Commander K. O. Ahuja of the Indian Air Force’s No. 1 Tigers Squadron in the 1965 Indo-Pak War. Who brought back his team of fighter pilots after a successful aerial strike on Pakistan’s Sargodha air base. This is a true story that lay buried and forgotten in the pages of India’s history until Jio Studios and Maddox Films brought it out in their war film ‘Sky Force’ that releases tomorrow. And who better than Akshay to play the veteran IAF war hero who was highly decorated for his bravery in action against the enemy in that deadly skirmish?

There is something very believable about Akshay and the characters he plays in films that require him to don a defence officer’s or policeman’s uniform. And he has done several such roles with panache. He once told PeepingMoon.com, “All uniforms suit me. Something happens to me when I wear a uniform. From the way I walk, talk, look at people, my whole body language changes, it makes me feel proud... even though I’m only wearing the uniform for a film. I don’t get that feeling in jeans and a tee-shirt.”

And it is true, some of the actor’s biggest hits have been the action films in which he has been synonymous with a uniform. It could be the Army man’s uniform in ‘Holiday’, the anti-terrorism agent’s uniform in ‘Baby’, an IAF officer’s uniform in ‘Andaaz’, the Navy officer’s whites in ‘Rustom’ and the policeman’s khaki in ‘Aan: Men at Work’, ‘Khakee’, ‘Mohra’, ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’, and ‘Khiladi 786’ among others. It is in ‘Sky Force’, too. Directors Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapur have successfully got Akshay to deliver a powerful and soul-stirring performance.

The hero of this thrilling war film is undoubtedly Akshay. Like his character who fearlessly leads a diehard unit of fighter pilots in the blood-and-guts aerial battle against Pakistan’s superior Air Force of 1965. He is also as hugely impressive as he is inspiring in the short, rousing speech he makes to his No. 1 Tigers Squadron, invoking the pride and dignity of sacrifice that overcomes the fear of soldiers going into a battle that might lead to death. There are several reasons why everybody must see ‘Sky Force’. It is packed with patriotic fervour without being jingoistic. And because the film is also a compelling watch and reveals a lost and forgotten slice of Indian history. But most of all see it for Akshay’s emotionally-powerful and action-backed performance that tells everyone who forgot, that nobody does action better than him in Bollywood.