Humble Motion Pictures and Dharma Productions’ Akaal (dubbed from the Punjabi film of the same name; UA) is a historical action film. It glorifies the true spirit of Sikh warriors and their sense of fair play even when dealing with enemies. The story is about the escalating tension between two villages. Jungi Jahana (Nikitin Dheer) and his associates, driven by malicious intentions, launch a surprise attack on the prosperous village of Sardar Akaal Singh (Gippy Grewal). Rather than the situation being diffused over time, the tension only mounts further. What happens finally?
Gippy Grewal’s story, with additional story by Raj Singh Jhinger and Prince Kanwaljit Singh, is fair but it offers nothing new. His screenplay, with additional screenplay by Raj Singh Jhinger and Prince Kanwaljit Singh, has some entertaining portions but also some parts which tend to bore the audience because of the sermonising effect the drama often has. Scenes appear to become repetitive after a point of time. Another drawback of the drama is that it doesn’t appear to be seamless. The screenplay rather gives the impression that a lot of effort has gone into it to give the viewers the impression that it has been written to look free-flowing. The effort to impress the audience is visible in every scene, and that’s not a nice feeling. Rarely does it appear that a scene flows from the previous scene. Although the story is about enmity between two groups, not much time is invested in explaining about the enmity or animosity.
It is because of the lack of seamlessness that the emotional connect of the screenplay with the audience is found lacking. Besides, the entire drama is tension-ridden and completely lacks ingredients like light moments and romance. In short, the writing seems to be lazy and manipulated. The trio’s dialogues are weighty but at the same time, it must be added that they seem to have been written with the intention of impressing the viewers. On several occasions, it appears that a particular scene has been forced into the drama just so that a weighty dialogue can be incorporated. An example of this is the scene in which Akaal Singh’s son, Zora Singh (Shinda Grewal), asks his father about whose blood he was cleaning from the sword. Akaal Singh replies that it is the blood of arrogance (ahankaar) which he was cleaning. Upon this, Zora asks, “Is arrogance a human or an animal?” Prompt comes Akaal Singh’s reply: “Arrogance is that which converts a human being into an animal.” It becomes clear to the audience that the entire scene was written just so that the last dialogue (about arrogance converting a human being into an animal) could be accommodated. Otherwise, why would Zora ask about whose blood it was; and why would Akaal Singh reply that it was the blood of arrogance; and why on earth would Zora further ask if arrogance was an animal or a human being? Also, a lot many dialogues are so preachy in nature that they end up irritating the listeners/viewers.
Gippy Grewal does fairly well as Akaal Singh but he fails to rule people’s hearts as his performance doesn’t turn out to be extraordinary or even heartfelt. Nimrat Khaira is quite alright as Sehaj Kaur. Nikitin Dheer is quite menacing as Jungi Jahana but there’s nothing sensational about his performance. Gurpreet Ghuggi irritates with his super-philosophical dialogues day in and day out in the role of Baba Hazura. Mita Vashisht is okay as Kattro. Shinda Grewal is fairly cute as Zora Singh but his acting does not make him a darling of the viewers. Prince Kanwaljit Singh has his moments as Deena. Ekom Grewal is adequate in the role of Cheechi. Ashish Duggal is okay as Dara Baksh. Bhana L.A. (as Bloura), Jaggi Singh (as Noora), Jarnail Singh (as Khadak Singh), Raj Dhaliwal (as Teg Kaur), Harinder Bhullar (as Chanan Singh), Apinderdeep Singh (as Bachna), Rang Dev (as Balram), Punya Mehta (as Jeeto), Naginder Gakhar (as Bashir), Sanjeev Kaler (as Yaqoob), Satish Verma (as mukhiya), Sanjeev Kumar (as Daan Singh), Gurbaaz Grewal (as little Zora Singh), Sanju Solanki, Swaran Singh and the others provide the desired support but don’t add anything extraordinary.
Gippy Grewal’s direction is so-so. He has not been able to make a heartfelt film which can move the viewers or shake them. He has also not been able to engage the audience in such a way that they feel, they are part of the drama. Rather, they watch the drama unfolding on the screen, as passive spectators. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is appealing but should’ve been better as the absence of super-hit tunes is sorely felt. Happy Raikoti’s lyrics are rich. Dipesh Varma’s background music is very impactful. Baljit Singh Deo’s cinematography is lovely. Siraj Sayed’s action and stunt scenes afford a lot of thrill. Ritesh Kumar’s (Pinky) art direction is appropriate. Rohit Dhiman’s editing is loose. Dubbing is very good.
On the whole, Akaal is too ordinary a fare to be liked. Its action is more exciting than its content, and hence it will not score at the turnstiles. Even the Punjabi original, released today, will not be able to do much at the box-office.
Released on 10-4-’25 at Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by Dharma Productions. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere. The opening of the Punjabi original is, of course, better than that of the Hindi dubbed version, but still not good enough.
