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by Subhash K Jha Jan 22, 2016 11:23 IST
#Airlift #Akshay Kumar #Bollywood #Gulf War #Kumud Mishra #Kuwait #Movie review #Nimrat Kaur #Ranjit Katyal #Saddam Hussain
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For your money and time, Akshay Kumar is the most watchable star in Bollywood today. See Airlift, you will know why.
Unlike the other superstars his growth is constant. Every film " and I include his steady stream of comedy films " finds him touching base with new depths of emotions within himself.
In Airlift, he plays Ranjit Katyal, the unsung, unknown hero who masterminded the evacuation of thousands of Indians stranded in Kuwait in August 1990 when Saddam Hussain's army decided to take over. Akshay delivers a performance that is subtle and skilled. He weaves his way around the crisis, looking for centre to his war-torn conscience-stricken character. When he finds that centre, the actor builds a character who uses his negotiating skills as an entrepreneur to rescue innumerable lives from danger.
It's a role clearly inspired by Liam Neeson in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. And Akshay is every bit as compelling as Neeson, if not more.
Akshay Kumar in Airlift. Youtube screen grab.
After a look-what-an-affluent-couple-we-are party song (totally unnecessary) the plot straightway takes us thick into the tensions on the war-torn streets of Kuwait. The images of a suddenly-violated landscape are imaginatively mapped.
It comes as surprise that the film is shot by female cinematographer Priya Seth. The images her camera captures are rugged virile and predominantly masculine.
We see the ravaged city swathed in the fire of fear. And the fear tension and anxiety is most palpably manifested on Akshay Kumar's face. A handsome , happy face suddenly stricken with panic for his wife Amrita (Nimrat Kaur) and little daughter's safety.
Ranjit Katyal's self-interest and concern for his family's safety extends itself outwards to include his staff members and their family " there's a brilliant conscience-awakening scene at the outset when Ranjit's faithful driver is gunned down my Saddam's marauders. Soon, the immediate concerns merge into a larger concern for the safety of all the stranded Indians in Kuwait.
For Ranjit the solution to the crisis is non-negotiable: either the safety of all Indians, or none. The sense of an individual rising to confront a mammoth crisis is placed at a predominant position in the plot. The scriptwriters Suresh Nair, Rahul Nangia, Ritesh Shah and director Menon, have researched Saddam's invasion well. But they don't allow the narrative to be bogged down by the politics of history.
Airlift is first and foremost a heart-stopping thriller. It's the story of a man whose heroism is awakened in the hour of crisis. Some of the most engrossing moments in the deviously-scripted political thriller find Ranjit Katyal making contact with an officer in the Minister Of External officers in the slim of getting help from the Indian government.
Actor Kumud Mishra, never known to let down his characters, creates tremendous empathy for the role of a bureaucrat struggling to convince an apathetic Indian administration to send help for the stranded Indians in Kuwait. During times of a crisis the humanism of an otherwise self-centred civilization is known to surface effortlessly. Airlift takes us through that journey of the awakened conscience with exhilarating empathy.
There is a lovely little scene in Sanjeev Kohli's tiny home where his father (Arun Bali), a Partition refugee, reminds his son what the loss of homeland means to an individual. Here, the evacuation of Indians from Kuwait effortlessly acquires a beautiful historical perspective.
The fringe roles of the scared frightened evacuees are played by competent actors, though some of them over-do the anxiety act. Standing-out among the crowds of refugees is Prakash Belawadi as a cantankerous whining old man, the kind of nuisance maker one comes across during any time of crisis. Belawadi's farewell hug for Ranjit Katyal is the kind of reluctant salute that makes the hero seem even more heroic.
Nimrat Kaur as the hero's wife doesn't have enough space to take her character very far. She has one important outburst sequence where she ticks off Belawadi for questioning and insulting her husband's heroism. Purab Kohli is engaging as a man searching for his missing wife in the mayhem that Saddam created, redeeming his loss by saving a helpless young Kuwaiti woman from sure death. It's yet another part given a lot of heart by the writing and the actor playing the role.
Though Akshay Kumar, and to a much smaller but equally significant extent, Kumud Mishra, tower over the plot, the smaller characters are all etched in vivid shades. Except for a ridiculous Arabic accent sported by an Iraqi general (played by Inaam-ul-Haq) the film doesn't strike one false note as it hurls through events that history buried in a place too deep for tears.
Though the budget constraints show up in the aerial and ground attack scenes (as uncalled-for as the Iraqi general's Arabicaccent) the film wears an urgent and tense look that reaches down to the audience and clutches us by our guts. More importantly Airlift shows us that with resolute authority and underplayed virility, how a hero is a product of the troubles that humanity inherits from its own shortcomings.
Ranjit Katyal is the Baahubali of his crisis.
Sometimes, being human comes naturally to cinema. That's the moment we need to salute celebrate and sanctify so that we get to see more unsung heroes on screen. We didn't know Ranjit Katyal. But now Akshay Kumar has brought this unclaimed hero out of the rubble of history.
It takes one hero to recognize and acknowledge another.
For a long time, Hindi cinema was happy with the Indian within India " living in its villages and cities. Then it started taking the hero-heroine abroad in films that felt like paid holidays for shooting song sequences. Next, Bollywood began focusing on the Indian living abroad, the NRI whose heart and mind seemed to reside back in the motherland. Now, it has moved another step ahead. Ee have Indians caught bang in the middle of geo-political crises: from tracking the Taliban in Afghanistan in Kabul Express to being caught in the civil war-torn Syria in Phantom. Airlift is also about Indians caught in a conflict zone, only that it is based on true incident. It is about the evacuation of 1,70,000 Indian expatriates stuck in Kuwait after its invasion by Iraq in 1990. Believed to be the largest civil evacuation ever, it was conducted over 59 days involving 488 Air India/Indian Airlines flights.
Filmmaker Raja Krishna Menon fashions a taut, engaging feature film out of an incident which would, on paper, appear to be more worthy of a documentary. It begins at the very beginning, taking us straight to that crucial day in Kuwait"August 1, 1990. We get a quick introduction to Ranjit Katyal (Akshay), a fictional character inspired by two individuals in Kuwait who mapped out the evacuation at that end. He runs a construction business, considers himself a Kuwaiti than an Indian, strongly believes in profiteering and is fast turning a stranger for wife Amrita (Nimrat). A quick cut to the bombing of Al Abdali labour camp, a voiceover explaining the history of tension between Iraq and Kuwait and its escalation to war and the stage is set. In its narrative swiftness, Airlift is structured like one of those Hollywood "rescue thrillers". It comes to the point fast, with the background conversations establishing the context, be it the oil wars, the American involvement or the reference to a "new boy" in the Indian cricket team called Sachin Tendulkar.
The characters, their relationships, interactions and transformations hold your attention, especially that of Ranjit and his relationship with Amrita. From confidence to insecurity and vulnerability, from a hardcore businessman to a do-gooder who willingly turns his office into a refugee camp"it doesn't take a lot of screen time for the shift to happen but Akshay, sporting his salt-n-pepper beard, gives the role all the gravitas he has and turns things believable. Nimrat is her usual easy presence on camera and turns all fiery with assurance when a scene makes such histrionic demands of her. With their relationship dynamics"rediscovering oneself and each other in crisis-the two make a most interesting on-screen couple. There is a warmth with which the director delineates the lazy, red-tapism of Indian bureaucracy and Kumud Mishra as halting, soft-spoken and slow JS Sanjeev Kohli is endearing.
There are bits which do get too far-fetched, the war scenes, those tanks moving in the desert look tawdrily done and the Iraqi major played by Inaamulhaq with a patently fake accent feels like a typical caricaturised villain of Hindi cinema than for real. Also, after keeping the emotions and melodrama in tight control Menon lets go towards the end specially with the overt patriotic posturing. Is it easy to shirk off your identity? What is home ultimately? Can you feel secure anywhere else other than your own country? Valid questions perhaps that come riding on jingoism, all wrapped up in the tricolour. Airlift would have been a better film without this nationalistic bluster but has a bigger potential at the box office now with the Republic Day just round the corner.
Raja Menon's first movie in seven years since Barah Aana is loosely based on the largest civilian evacuation in history - the operation to rescue over one lakh Indians in 1990 from Kuwait after it was invaded by Iraq's Saddam Hussein. An unmatched feat of diplomacy, co-ordination, and logistical effort, the evacuation is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise-blemished record of addressing the needs of migrant Indians caught in the crosshairs of war. The operation required the involvement of scores minds at the top and the bottom of the diplomatic pyramid, including serving foreign minister IK Gujral, but Airlift claims that one and only one man was responsible: the fictional businessman Ranjit (Akshay Kumar), whose high-level contacts and humongous bank balance make it possible to spearhead the entire rescue. (Ranjit is described in the end credits as a composite of two real-life businessmen who helped with the operation.)
When we first meet Ranjit, he is not yet in the mould of Oskar Schindler, the German businessman who saved the lives of over a thousand Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories (and was the subject of a contested Steven Spielberg biopic), but he is getting there. Practical to a fault and a superb negotiator, Ranjit describes himself as a Kuwaiti rather than an Indian, and has mild contempt for the country he has long left behind. But Ranjit's entrepreneurial skills come handy when Saddam Hussein orders his soldiers and tanks into the kingdom. The invasion puts the lives of several hundred thousand Indians of all classes in jeopardy, and reluctant Ranjit is transformed into a most enthusiastic messiah. He relocates his stricken fellow nationals to a refugee camp and takes on the delicate task of persuading a grubby-handed Iraqi general (Inaamulhaq) and the Indian government - represented, again, by a single caring bureaucrat (Kumud Mishra) - that these lives are worth saving. The general has already offered to protect Ranjit's wife Amrita (Nimrat Kaur) and his daughter in exchange for money.
Akshay Kumar in a song sequence from Airlift.'Airlift works very well if the paying public is willing to forget the actual facts of the operation. The smart screenplay, by Raja Menon, Suresh Nair, Ritesh Shah and Rahul Nangia, deftly lays out the characters of Ranjit and his initially reluctant wife, who cannot understand her husband's sudden turn towards charity, and resists the temptation to fast-forward to the inevitably rousing nationalistic climax. The rescue operation follows a long and vexing attempt to shake the Indian government into action. The frustrations and false victories are explored at length, as if to remind viewers that in real life, rescue operations are far more mundane than the movies lead us to believe. Menon credibly creates a sense of a nation at war, and the decidedly non-flamboyant writing creates a convincing arc for Ranjit's character to evolve from pragmatist to super-hero.
The director, editor Hemanti Sarkar and cinematographer Priya Gupta deftly keep the tension boiling and the narrative ticking despite the intrusion of songs down to the patriotic climax, which eventually proves to be misplaced. Airliftsuggests that private enterprise succeeded where the government failed. The movie emphasises that every individual life counts, best demonstrated in Ranjit's insistence that a Kuwaiti widow and her child qualify for refuge and evacuation despite the protests of a particularly quarrelsome Indian, George Kutty (Prakash Belwadi). Despite the salute to the tricolour, the real agenda is to pay moist-eyed tribute to Ranjit, without whose heroism, suggests the movie, this historic rescue would not have been possible.
The movie might have collapsed under the weight of its own conceit if it hadn't been for the taut writing and the strong performances by the cast. Nimrat Kaur is a fine foil to Akshay Kumar, who delivers his best performance in ages. Kumar has been lining his own bank balance with comedies and action thrillers for years, and Airlift indicates that he remains capable of playing a conflicted character who is transformed by circumstances into a man of action.
The star triumphs over the facts in a sleight of hand that makes for riveting but also fanciful cinema. Black-and-white photographs in the closing credits show several nameless government employees at work, stamping the temporary papers that allow the Indians to re-enter their country and facilitating the relocation of this mass of humanity. This amazing story needs a second movie, perhaps titled The Real Airlift, which is not in thrall to a single and singular man but acknowledges the hundreds who enabled lakhs of Indians to return home safe. Airlift soars on its own merits, but it is ultimately a flight of fantasy.
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters)
A still from "Airlift"
The sight of the tricolor unfurling before the victorious hero is one that has characterised many a Bollywood movie. And yet, very few manage to evoke genuine emotion even after resorting to lofty dialogue and (ear-shattering) patriotic background music.
But in Raja Krishna Menon's "Airlift", that moment is beautifully captured. Our hero, bedraggled and exhausted after a dangerous journey, emerges into the dappled sunlight, spots his country's flag, and feels a sense of relief that is beyond words. Menon and his lead actor Akshay Kumar resist the temptation to embellish the moment.
That restraint characterises the film, based mostly on true events leading up to the largest civil evacuation in history. Around 170,000 Indians were airlifted out of Kuwait days after Iraq attacked the country in 1990. Kumar plays fictional character Ranjit Katyal, an Indian businessman who made his fortune in Kuwait and adopted it as his home country. Within the first five minutes, the film has established his contempt for India, and his ruthlessness when it comes to dealing with business adversaries. This sets him up perfectly for the redemption that comes in the end, Oskar Schindler style.
Much like the sentiment of Air Supply's hit "Making love out of nothing at all", Raja Krishna Menon's "Airlift" is an attempt to make a compelling movie out of nothing much in terms of action or drama as the real events during the Gulf War essentially involved weeks of negotiations and international diplomacy. But "Airlift" manages to hold your attention throughout its two-hour runtime.
A picture shows actual evacuation of Indian citizens from Kuwait.
Menon inserts the right dose of wry humour and a few shocks along the way to build his film up gradually, hitting the right buttons for most of the time. But "Airlift" has its own set of flaws. Menon glosses over a lot of technicalities, like how Indian bureaucracy works, for instance. There is the mandatory and out-of-place Akshay Kumar fight sequence, and a couple of predictable story lines.
Inaamulhaq plays an evil Iraqi general and looks as if he walked in straight from the sets of Borat. Nimrat Kaur as Katyal's wife is sporadically effective, while Prakash Belawadi as a cantankerous fellow camper stands out.
But the film belongs to Akshay Kumar. He is in almost every scene and this is an author-backed role that he obviously relishes. Even if you aren't the patriotic sort, his performance is reason enough to watch the film.
Originally posted by: hermione82
I think this is first tweet where Tina is praising Akki..Movie must be real good😊
Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones)47 mins ago - View on TwitterSon saw #Airlift & said'Mom you always nag dad-he works too much -after seeing this-isn't it worth it?'One of MrK's finest films @RajaMenon
A spirited effort and Akshay Kumar's performance are the high points of 'Airlift'.
Movie: AIRLIFT
Directed by: Raja Krishna Menon
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur, Purab Kohli
Rating: ***
What's It About:
Raja Krishna Menon's Airlift isn't about a true story; it's based on true events. This is a term most commonly used in Hollywood - when some aspect of a real incident is taken and then padded with fiction so that the film could be positioned as a true' story. Airlift too, as revealed to us by its makers in the beginning and end of the film, falls in the same format. Loaded with fictional characters and circumstances, Airlift therefore, falls into the realm of a regular drama/thriller, with a few real-life references. Ranjeet Katiyal (Akshay Kumar) is an ambitious, go-getter Indian settled in Kuwait with his wife (Nimrat Kaur) and child. He has no love for his country (not even its music); in fact Ranjeet considers himself a Kuwaiti. But when Saddam Hussain invades Kuwait leading to panic and pandemonium, everything changes. Ranjeet, with his wealthy background, has the option of leaving the country with his family. A sense of responsibility dawns over him when his own employees look at him for help and Ranjeet refuses to abandon them. More distraught Indians join them as Ranjeet sets up a transit camp for them all. How he helps bringing back 170,000 people back to India forms the crux of the rest of the film.
What's Hot:
The film is set in the early 90s and the director does a fair job recreating the era - even the detailing in costumes and backdrops is noteworthy. The war invasion scenes may not be massive in terms of scale but still give you a decent description of the havoc caused. Overall, the film has a stark look and feel, which works in its favour to quite an extent. Prakash Belawadi as the cranky old man in the camp is a scene-stealer. Akshay Kumar's stellar performance is the film's backbone. In almost every frame of the film, he doesn't let his grip loose even once. Easily one of his most effective and restrained acts in recent times.
What's Not:
If Airlift were entirely a true story, there would be no room for complaints simply because you cannot alter the screenplay of real events. But when so much of fiction had to be added anyway, why couldn't that fiction be more gripping and dramatic? Director Raja Menon maintains the same momentum throughout the film. Even where there's a chance to accelerate the high, he underplays it. That's why the roar of patriotic fervour is somehow missing in this film. The climax is tame and leaves you a bit confused. Air India flights came to Jordan and evacuated all the Indians. But Jordan was always a safe zone. Air India flew a number of flights for the job and made it the biggest evacuation. But there's no Argo in this if you're looking for one. Menon's choice of character actors also leaves one disappointed. Inamulhaq as the Iraqi major is more of a clown. Why would you trivialise your main negative character, especially when you have fictionalised it? Nimrat Kaur looks misplaced and out of sync. Airlift also needed a mature producer who would not burden it with unnecessary songs (a couple of them make you gasp in embarrassment as Katiyal starts doing a jig) and ruin the film's credibility factor.
What To Do:
A spirited effort and Akshay Kumar's performance are the high points of Airlift
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