Airlift

Set in the backdrop of the Kuwait war, the latest Akshay Kumar starrer Airlift is a wonderfully crafted movie that depicts the reality of the situation along with genuine patriotism. With the screenplay not wasting a single moment on desperate commercialization, the realistic treatment only got better with that pinch of bollywood formula.

Ranjit Katyal, a businessman who is settled in Kuwait is the central protagonist of the film. In 1990, Iraq under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein decided to attack Kuwait. Ranjit who was basically thinking about the safety of his family and company workers, gradually understood the fact that there were more than one and a half lakh Indians stranded there in that horrific situation. The movie depicts the selfless efforts of Ranjit and a few of his friends to save this large number of Indians.

At the end of the film, the movie shows us the original pictures of the event along with the original people who took the initiative of bringing all these people back to India. Well that surely gave me Goosebumps and after a considerable gap, Airlift was that sensible film which managed to bring out that sincere patriotic feel of the audience. The hero isn’t delivering many punch lines. Very rarely he is in the aggressive mode and you could sense the common man in him. This sort of realism is the real plus of Airlift. Raja Krishnan Menon mixes the commercial flavors of song and dance at the right moment and that too without spoiling the flow of the narrative.

After movies like Baby and Special 26, Akshay Kumar once again gets a character in that zone. His character is relatively calm and emotional. The script isn’t demanding a Khiladi one man show, and the actor invests completely in being Ranjit Katyal. Nimrat Kaur gets her time to perform in the second half of the movie where she becomes that supportive wife. Prakash Belawadi as the insensitive malayali and Lena as his wife did their roles neatly. Inaamulhaq was surprisingly good as the Iraqi Major. Purabh Kohli also delivered a neat performance.

More than the performers I feel that the technical team of the movie did a fantastic job. It isn’t easy to recreate the old days on a wide scale, but the director Raja Krishnan Menon has succeeded in that. He has kept the movie in the sensible zone by visualizing the events in the most realistic manner. The screenplay gives space for many characters and their reactions. There were conflicts inside the Indian camp, there were difficulties in crossing the Iraqi soldiers and the movie also discusses what happened in India at the same time in a sensible way. Many claps worthy moments were there. Impressive cinematography, fabulous art direction and smart usage of visual effects make Airlift a technically glorious movie. Music was used sensibly and the songs were nice. BGM was also used effectively.

To sum it up, Airlift has a rational narrative, practical characters supported by good actors and that patriotic feel which isn’t that plastic. Within 124 minutes you get to feel the tension, relief and the joy of being selfless. Don’t miss it.