Trailer
Plot summary
Ranjit Katyal is a successful Indian businessman in Kuwait who has always called himself a Kuwaiti and has been dismissive of other Indians. In August 1990, Iraqi troops invade and occupy Kuwait City, and the contacts he kept in Kuwait and Baghdad count for nothing. Around 170,000 Indians are stranded in the country, and Kuwait's government has gone into exile. Ranjit's wife Amrita wants him to use his standing to get their family out. Instead he and his friends gather several hundred Indians into a makeshift camp, with the permission of Major Khalaf bin Zayd, an Iraqi officer who knows him. Ranjit then telephones the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi and asks for arrangements to evacuate everyone.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Airlift (2016)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Akshay Kumar's character Ranjit Katyal is based on Mathunny Mathews, a real Kuwait-based Indian businessman who spearheaded the evacuation; director Raja Krishna Menon wrote the script after studying the war and the plight of Indians in Kuwait.
- Akshay Kumar reported that 80% of his profit share would be put into Airlift's budget and that he would not charge a fee for the film.
- India's Ministry of External Affairs objected to how the film portrayed its officials: K.P. Fabian, who was Joint Secretary of its Gulf division during the 1990 war, accused Airlift of deliberately spreading misinformation, spokesperson Vikas Swarup called it short on facts and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said it fell short in research.
- Though it had been slated for release there, Airlift was eventually banned from cinemas in Kuwait for undisclosed reasons.
- Two Airlift songs drew on earlier hits: "Dil Cheez Tujhe Dedi" was largely inspired by Algerian singer Khaled's 1990s song "Didi", and "Soch Na Sake" reimagined the Punjabi song "Soch" by Harrdy Sandhu, Jaani and B Praak.
