Airlift (2016)

Directed by

Raja Krishna Menon

Genre

action film, war film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 06m

Rated

14

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 219 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Based on true events, a wealthy Indian businessman in Kuwait takes charge of evacuating thousands of stranded Indian workers after Saddam Hussein's forces invade the country. He navigates dangerous bureaucracy and wartime chaos to bring everyone home safely.

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What happens

Airlift is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film directed by Raja Krishna Menon starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur, that follows Ranjit Katyal (played by Kumar), a Kuwait-based businessman as he carries out the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's Iraq which led to the beginning of the Gulf War. The film was jointly produced by Abundantia Entertainment, Cape of Good Films, Emmay Entertainment and T-Series on a total budget of ₹320 million. The plot is adapted from the real life story of Kuwait-based Indian businessmen such as Mathunny Mathews from Kerala, Harbhajan Singh Vedi etc. Director Menon wrote the script after studying the whole incident of the war and the predicament of Indians based in Kuwait. He then approached Akshay Kumar for the role of a character based on Mathunny Mathews, He agreed to act and produce under his banner of Hari Om Entertainment, Kumar reported that his 80% profit share will be included in the film's budget and he will not charge fees. Filming began in February 2015. The first schedule of the film was reportedly shot in Al-Hamra Palace Beach Resort in Ras Al Khaimah. The sets were re-created to depict Kuwait during 1990. The film was shot in several locations including, Ujjain, Bhuj and Rajasthan. Kumar collaborated with the flight company Air India to promote the film, which had a major contribution to the evacuation of a record-breaking number of Indians during the war. Airlift opened theatrically worldwide on 22 January 2016, coinciding with Republic Day weekend. The film received positive reviews from the critics, praising the film's strong writing, soundtrack, scale, editing, cinematography and significant praise went to Akshay Kumar for his acting, calling it one of his best performances. The film was a commercial success, it emerged as a blockbuster at Indian as well as abroad box office. Airlift has grossed over ₹2.21 billion in global markets. The film is featured among the 2016 Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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