Spoilers ahead…
In August 1990, when Iraqi forces took over Kuwait, Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar) discovered that he had to get out with his wife Amrita (a lipstick-happy Nimrat Kaur) and little daughter. But instead of buying three one-way tickets – a matter of loose change for this business tycoon; he’d just have to sell, oh, the second hand of the thick gold watch on his wrist – he chose to stick around and help the other Indians similarly stranded, some 1,70,000 of them. What made this man an unlikely messiah? Maybe it has something to do with the moment Ranjit saw his driver gunned down in front of him. Maybe it’s about the long, slow drive past a series of horrors – he just cannot stop crying. Maybe it’s the realisation that the dinar he worshipped now possesses “mitti ka value.” Maybe it’s that he did not know the people who worked under him, and now that these anonymous faces have names he knows, he cannot just stand by and do nothing. Maybe it’s the knowledge that, with his money and his cutthroat negotiating skills, he’s the only one around who can do anything. (The dinner-time scene where he bluffs the puffed-up Iraqi officer, played by Inaamulhaq, is a cracker.) Or maybe it’s, as Ranjit says, “Chot lagti hai to aadmi ‘maa maa’ hi chillaata hai sabse pehle.” He’d begun to think of himself as Kuwaiti. Now, he sees Raj Kapoor was right: phir bhi dil hai Hindustani.
Raja Krishna Menon’s Airlift is a remarkable blend of two styles of moviemaking. If the refusal to spoon-feed us a single answer for Ranjit’s transformation is the sign of a certain type of cerebral thriller, there’s also that fantastic line of dialogue that Kader Khan would have been proud to put his name on – inside the cool Hollywoodian exterior throbs a Bollywoodian heart. The film keeps serving up typical situations, the kind we’d find in our masala movies – and what is the central story if not “hero saves the day”? – but there’s always something a little… atypical.
There’s an early song, reminiscent of Khaled’s Didi. At first, it’s just an item song. Shapely dancers baring acres of creamy flesh. Well-heeled patrons clutching glasses of wine. A band of musicians with a lead singer who kicks off the song, until the hero sashays in and begins to sing himself. It appears that Bollywood has set up shop – it’s business as usual. Except that it’s not. Menon keeps cutting away to the lead singer who’s at first amused that Ranjit has taken over, but gradually he sits down with a sigh – another victim of Ranjit’s takeover tendencies. And we recall the snatch of conversation just before the song, about a business deal in which Ranjit screwed over a friend. Ranjit stays in character through the song as well. Now he’s screwing the singer over.
Time and again, we get masala-movie situations that simmer with less spice. The scene where Ranjit goes to inform his driver’s wife that her husband is no more – there are no wails; there aren’t even any words. The scene where the sympathetic Indian government official (the excellent Kumud Mishra; he looks such a part of the system that you suspect he even learnt his ABCs from dusty files) addresses civil aviation pilots who refuse to fly into a war zone (to bring those Indians back home) – you expect rousing oratory, a stirring call to action; you get, instead, a short speech urging them to introspect and do what they think is right.
And the action scene? You brace yourself for choreographed stunt-work, a paisa-vasool sop for fans who know Akshay Kumar as Rowdy Rathore; but there’s just some scrambling with sand and stones, the way we’d fight if we summoned up the guts, and the bad guys are dismissed not by the leading man but the extras, whose sheer numbers suggest a slightly different story, that it’s not just the hero who saves the day. Airlift may revolve around the actions of Ranjit Katyal (and the star power of Akshay Kumar, who gives a controlled, charismatic performance), but it makes space for many smaller heroes: that Indian government official; the supermarket owner who looks after feeding the Indians corralled into a camp; the Muslim who saves a Kuwaiti widow; those pilots. As the end credits inform us, Ranjit himself is a composite of two real-life heroes, men who did super things but were not exactly supermen.
Menon is a first-rate filmmaker. I keep thinking of a crane shot that goes down-up instead of the more conventional up-down. (The terrific cinematography is by Priya Seth.) The latter takes us from the general to the specific – it’s the classic establishing shot. But here, we see the actions of a few, and when the camera goes up, we see the multitudes that lie beyond. The shot is pure narrative – that’s a story being told there. I don’t recall much of Menon’s earlier film Barah Aana, but I looked back at my review and here’s what I found: tightly narrated… Another film would have [tickled] our most subversive wish-fulfillment fantasies… Menon [lets] his leads breathe… opting for character over contrivance, detail over plot dynamics… wryly observed… doesn’t bludgeon us with its thesis points…
All of which applies, to some degree, to Airlift as well. With just a few well-chosen faces (Purab Kohli, Prakash Belawadi) and a few sharp brush strokes, Menon helps us know the individuals in this mass of Indians. And with a few well-chosen artefacts, he brings alive an era, most amusingly in the form of a young Sachin Tendulkar, who gets this assessment from a disgruntled Indian in Amman: “Kisi ko bhi Indian team mein daal dete hain.” Ek do teen, too, makes an appearance. Ranjit is irked when his driver listens to the chartbuster, but later, he discovers Iraqi soldiers jumping with glee when the song begins to play. It’s a live demo of India’s soft power long before liberalisation, long before anyone thought to yoke together the terms “India” and “soft power.” Somewhere, Manoj Kumar is jotting down notes for a new movie: Purab Aur Middle East.
If there’s a niggle, it’s that the film doesn’t quite live up to its marketing. Or its name, for that matter. The scenes with planes add up to a mere couple of minutes – Biding Time Till The Airlift might have made a better title. Wiki up “1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait” and you’ll find this remarkable story, of the largest civilian evacuation in history: “A total of 170,000 people were evacuated to Mumbai – a distance of 4,117 km, by operating 488 flights in association with Indian Airlines, from 13 August to 11 October 1990 – lasting 59 days.” How thrilling that sounds. It’s understandable, even inevitable, that this complex chain of events is smoothed down into a mainstream-friendly narrative, but the resulting film has neither the nail-biting tension of the similarly themed Argo nor the historical heft of Schindler’s List, which is evoked not only in the Schindler-like capitalist who discovers selflessness, but also in the mousy, manager who makes a list of people who need to be saved (the equivalent of the Ben Kingsley character) and the enemy that the hero is forced to be friends with (the Ralph Fiennes character). Other reminders: scenes of Kuwaitis being rounded up and massacred by Iraqis, like Jews under the Nazis; and the Indian camp, an approximation of a Jewish ghetto.
But Schindler’s List carried a charge of danger. Will he get caught? That is never a question in Airlift, which, after the urgent initial portions, begins to plod towards a wholly expected ending. Even the scenes with the Kuwaiti widow, who’s described as a “time bomb,” don’t really detonate. But none of this takes away from the fact that this is a fine film, a fine example of how it’s possible to incorporate Western understatement into a very Indian movie, and, more importantly, a fine model for how our aging heroes can continue playing the action hero. At least until a time we begin to wonder if the film should really be called… Facelift.
KEY:
- Chot lagti hai to aadmi ‘maa maa’ hi chillaata hai sabse pehle = When we’re hurt, we cry for our mother.
Copyright ©2016 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Rohit Sathish Nair
January 24, 2016
Hey Baddy
Was waiting with bated breath for this review
I still feel it is unjust to compare Airlift with Argo or Schindler’s List… Is a mission to save 6 really the same as one with 1,70,000? While watching, I always felt that this was a humanistic drama first, a thriller later. We find a certain sensitivity in everything about the film, especially the frames. But yes, I did feel we should have had scenes with how the flights were coordinated, instead of those tacky song breaks almost pulling you out of the narrative
I liked how Raja Menon did away with most of those abstractions related to patriotism. It didn’t seem to be forced at all. Katyal’s urge to save the Indians seemed to be more or less moral.
Didn’t you like the scene with Kohli and his father?
Also liked how he brought in references to India’s soft power and diplomatic position. That Western understatement worked wonders totally
Menon’s Bollywoody detours worked only in the climax. It seemed as if he wasn’t confident enough to make the movie without them.
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brangan
January 24, 2016
Rohit Sathish Nair: When a movie (or its basic structure, or genre) brings to mind another movie, it doesn’t mean we are “comparing” them. It just means that there are certain useful precedents, which help us understand what went right or wrong with this film. Our responses to the earlier film(s) help us understand better why we felt such-and-such way about this one.
That said, about your point: Is a mission to save 6 really the same as one with 1,70,000?
It’s not about numbers. It’s about how the film involves you in what it’s trying to say.
It wasn’t a deal-breaker for me, but I did feel the closing portions were kind of anticlimactic — for this kind of broad / commercial / mainstream film. If you’re already fictionalising so much, a little more drama or emotion wouldn’t have hurt, IMO.
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tonks
January 24, 2016
long before anyone though to yoke
Sixth para typo : *thought
but it makes space for many smaller heroes: that Indian government official; the supermarket owner who looks after feeding the Indians corralled into a camp; the Muslim who saves a Kuwaiti widow; those pilots. As the end credits inform us, Ranjit himself is a composite of two real-life heroes, men who did super things but were not exactly supermen
This reminded me of the recent Chennai flood superheroes. There’s perhaps a movie waiting to be made by someone over that story too.
Kerala was one of the Indian states most affected by this take over of Kuwait by Iraq. A large number of those 1,70,000 were Malayalees.
The Hindi movie reviews in this blog are perhaps some of the most lovingly detailed of all. It seems a shame they do not reach the newspaper. I was wondering what makes you review in such detail movies you do not have to see or write about (as a part of your job). A love for movies? A love for writing? For the blog? To keep in touch, because these movies may need to referenced in other write-ups? Perhaps a combination of all of these.
Having only 15 lines for ‘recent comments’ means that when a flood of comments is posted all at once (as happened today morning), we may miss a few 🙂
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Di
January 24, 2016
love your sense of humor. Just like the movie maker in process of conveying important -maybe boring message or task of rescue (I mean how boring it would be to show actual boarding of all those people), put masala elements like songs and dialogue-bazi. IN your in-depth analysis of the movie (like the crane shot going from down to up instead of up to down) and technicalities, you have lol lines like these “Somewhere, Manoj Kumar is jotting down notes for a new movie: Purab Aur Middle East”.
Samaj daar ko ishara kafi hota hai.
OK…I will spell it out for you.
Baddiyji, it is time for you to morph into a script-writer. :-))))
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rahultyagi
January 24, 2016
Di, I think he already has taken steps in that direction. no need to for the nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
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Sutheesh Kumar. P. S.
January 25, 2016
Di and Rahul Tyagi (are you per chance rt), it’s about time we got a book out by the name ‘ Conversations with Baradwaj Rangan’
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Arun Annamalai
January 25, 2016
Agree with Rohit’s comments earlier that it is a humanistic movie more than a thriller. The scenes with the nagging old man which was played by a perfectly casted actor really conveyed the irritation that one should feel given the larger circumstances in the movie.
Brangan, when you say there could have been more drama, what is the guideline that you used that justifies this is indeed the case?
Regarding the title of the movie and the trailer, was expecting more with the flights and possibly a last minute escapade by Akshay while the iraqi general (excellent casting again) makes an attempt to abort it, it did let me down in that aspect and does not justify it’s promotion as a thriller albeit there were a few scenes with the kuwaiti lady that was tense and could have been written in the story as a better knot to untangle. There could have been an Inglorious Bastards moment with the hidden kuwaiti (s). But still kudos to the team for picking a non popcorn script, the movie set authenticity, casting and the story telling.
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Andy
January 25, 2016
I thought the worst things about this movie were I) the title and the related promotions. It’s not really a story of the airlift as much as the circumstances leading up to it. Any other title would have been better. II) Songs. Really jarring as mentioned.
I thought Nimrit Kaur’s character was actually the most realistic one, in terms of all her misgivings and hesitation, in spite of all the lipstick. I can see mainstream heroines balking from such a role which doesn’t necessarily portray them in a heroic light (even if more realistic).
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tonks
January 25, 2016
it’s about time we got a book out by the name ‘ Conversations with Baradwaj Rangan’
Isnt that exactly what this blog’s comment section is? 😉
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tonks
January 25, 2016
On a related note, here’s an amusing comment from someone called Anuja (who loathed that movie) under the ‘Kadal’ thread :
Mr Rangan, I am a huge fan of your writing (in fact, I am practically a groupie) and have long waited for you to write a book. But when you did and I found out it was on Mani, I could not have been more disappointed. Because I simply do not see Mani as a genius or a subject worthy of a brilliant writer. Sure he made fantastic films like Anjali, Bombay, Roja but he has been churning out sub – standard fare for a long time now. In fact Alaipayudhe was the last decent film he made. His ‘legacy’ as you called it is tarnished beyond redemption thanks to the rubbish films he has made for the past 12 years. And instead of wasting his time with films like Kadal, perhaps he should do everybody a favor and write a book called “Conversations with Baradwaj Rangan”. Because you are the genius, not him. (And trust me after the review you gave for Kadal, I am really going out on a limb to say that)
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Bayta
January 25, 2016
Have nothing to say about this movie, since I haven’t watched it and, consequently, only skimmed this review. However, I just wanted to add a huge +1000 to this:
“Having only 15 lines for ‘recent comments’ means that when a flood of comments is posted all at once (as happened today morning), we may miss a few :)”
I love the comments section here almost more than the reviews themselves (sorry BR) and try to keep up with them almost obsessively. But life does get in the way sometimes, and when I come back here after a few days, I often find that I’ve missed a lot of comments thanks to there being no easy way to view a comprehensive list of recent comments. All I can do then is to click on every recent article and scroll to the bottom. But sometimes, one of the old-timers, or even a newbie, bumps an old article and there are some interesting discussions that take off from that.
Is there any way you can add a filter by recent activity option or a page that lists all recent comments from the last week (last month would be even more awesome but possibly unwieldy)? I can’t be the only one who wishes this was an option! 🙂
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Bunny
January 25, 2016
[i]a fine model for how our aging heroes can continue playing the action hero[/i]
Sorry to digress Rangan. But an ageing Akshay Kumar is a much better action hero (I am referring to masala films) than the “young” breed of Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan or Tigger Shroff. It was difficult to buy Ranbir Kapoor as a street fighter even for a second in Bombay Velvet. In Besharam it was hard to know whether he was fighting or dancing.
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brangan
January 25, 2016
Bayta: If anyone can tell me how to increase the number of comments that show up, I’d be happy to do it. Right now, the template only allows a max of 15.
Bunny: I was not talking only about AK but about how this film is a fine model for heroes who are getting on in years and yet want to maintain their “action hero” tag. This a believable mid-zone — for even if it’s not exactly an “action movie” (in the sense of many fights etc.), it functions like one. I mean, even an Amitabh can act in a film like this and we wouldn’t have to suspend too much belief.
Arun Annamalai: I see this more as a thriller (or at least, thriller-type) than a “humanistic movie.” It’s more an exterior film (about process, logistics) than an interior one (about personal issues) — the skew is something like 70-30.
The fact that there are characters like the nagging man doesn’t mean this isn’t a thriller. Thrillers need believable, interesting characters too. Even Baby had them. D-Day had them. Airlift isn’t unique in this case. It’s just that we don’t get too many films that take care of the thriller angle as well as giving us non-cartoony and relatively real characters.
About the fact that the film could have used more drama… I was talking about something that could have addressed these two issues:
(1) the all-round saintliness; with the exception of the nagging man, almost every other Indian was a good guy. Some (fictional) sharp edges — probably with the Purab Kohli character — might have made things more interesting, especially given the…
(2) inevitability of the ending. There’s no doubt about what’s going to happen. So how do you stave off the plodding-ness of the latter portions? IMO, this wasn’t cracked as well as it could have been.
This wouldn’t have mattered had this been an intimate drama, but this is a broad, fictionalised feature. With songs, etc. Plus, two Mallu everymen are conflated into one Punju hero, so the film will play better in the North 🙂 So a bit of extra fiction may not have been out of place.
Again, not a deal-breaker. More about how this good film might have become a great one — at least for me.
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Bayta
January 25, 2016
@BR – I’ll let one of the WordPress experts here weigh in on that. I hope there’s a way. Seems like there ought to be.
Also, while I’m making requests, a way to search the comments would be nice. I’m not sure if the current search only searches through the posts themselves or the comment section as well.
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Rohit Sathish Nair
January 25, 2016
Well, just felt that the filmmaker’s focus wasn’t on the thrills so much as making us feel for these people.
Would side with you on the ending being rushed, Baddy
Perhaps giving us the ‘Airlift’ scenes could have added to the drama and ‘historical heft’ as you said. After all, that’s what they named the movie
Always wanted to know how this movie was similar to/different from Baby and D-Day.
PS: How long before you watch another Malayalam movie?
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Sutheesh Kumar. P. S.
January 25, 2016
Hi Tonks, that was just a tongue in cheek comment, but if we are serious about it, why not something like “Dispatches from the wall corner”.
Anuja is right, i agree with her word to word.
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tonks
January 25, 2016
I agree with her too 🙂
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Saurabh
January 26, 2016
Brangan, A very apt title and review.
I liked the film overall and my only gripe is that throughout the film I kept feeling that something is missing. How do I express it? Its like “Namak thoda kam tha”.
The director wants to utilize the familiarity of spectators with the masala setups in arousing interest and curiosity but that is as far as he wants to go. The payoffs are then handled in a understated manner to keep a feel of gritty realistic drama based on true events.
Does it work? I am not sure. To me it seems to slightly backfire because there is this lingering feeling of “can you please pass me the salt” (although going by the IMDB rating – 9.5 out of 12k votes – it seems like my lingering feelings are in absolute minority).
Also, as mentioned in the review, there is lack of drama which to me seems to stem from the desire to keep the proceeding realistic and also to make the whole story appear as a hero’s journey. Realistic, gritty does not mean lack of drama. And it would have been much more fun to watch the efforts of people in Kuwait trying to survive cross-cut with the efforts of Indian government to negotiate (after their initial torpor) which could have made it a nail-biting thriller. But then this would not have fit the hero’s journey model.
It is obvious, and as Brangan mentioned, the director is first-rate and seems to have the skill/sensibility to pull off a different style if he so wished but he rather wanted to keep it within the safe waters of masala framework and a hero’s journey.
Things I liked
a) The nagging guy did not have a change-of-heart after the grand lecture he receives. He is like .. “Yeah.. yeah.. I know.. I know.. don’t give me all that crap”.. Nice
b) Akshay mentions to his wife “Just say that I don’t want to go in the ship next to all the garbage” – Quite insightful 🙂 I am waiting for a film which deals with woman and their obsession with clean washrooms. 🙂 The director/writer seems to have an eye for details like these.
c) As Brangan mentioned, the item song in the beginning and constant cutting back to the stage performer was very atypical and funny.
Things I dint like
a) The song in the end about your country always looking out for you was completely forced. The movie never builds that or makes us feel that. In fact we get the opposite feeling. It seems that all these people got saved because of the efforts of this one official rather than a well-coordinated effort of Indian government.
b) I would have really enjoyed if the whole effort on the Indian government side was given more footage and weightage.
c) Akshay is good but that is as far as I would go.
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Arun Annamalai
January 26, 2016
Thanks Brangan, I was judging/perceiving the movie purely based on the end product vs what it should have been but given the subject matter what you said makes sense with regards to the ratio that it should have adhered to which it did not given the less or rather no focus on flights from a logistics perspective, i felt it focused more on emotions and interpersonal issues (driver, nagging man, wife, problems faced at the indian camp, iraqi general, akshay’s internal conflict and selflessness) the film was 2 hours long, think there was room to add more content.
On another thread, this subject could have been given a Bridge of Spies treatment, there the crux was negotiation and here it is logistics, but both are bound by the same goal which is release of fellow country men, don’t you agree?
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Arun Annamalai
January 26, 2016
Saurabh, i would say mirchi, more than namak 🙂
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Sutheesh Kumar. P. S.
January 28, 2016
I first saw Prakash Belawadi in the Kannada movie Kenda Sampige, he was absolutely fantastic in the role of a sleazy Police Officer and now this role as George. He seems to be a method actor very committed to the characters he is portraying by incorporating minor tics, nuances and body language.
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q8
January 28, 2016
i really liked the movie. as someone who went through the war and was one of the refugees, it brought back so many memories from those days. As far as I know, this is the only film which shows the indian refugees’ story during kuwait invasion.
the broad details shown in the movie are true. But few points I’d like to highlight: indian govt was not indifferent as portrayed. And it was not just two guys who organised the entire evacuation. There were many people (both in Kuwait who were instrumental in getting us back in India. All 1,70,000 indians didn’t leave as one group.
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tw
January 29, 2016
(Long-time lurker, first-time commenter)
As someone else from Kuwait (my father went through the invasion/evacuation, but the rest of us missed it by a hairline, as our schools were off), I have been getting quite annoyed at the movie 🙂 I haven’t watched it, so perhaps I have no right to be annoyed/comment 🙂 But here goes anyway:
a large part of the chaos/ misery/ terror on the ground was also caused by the aam junta on the street (read: non-Iraqi) looting. Everything from breaking ATMs to breaking into houses. You had ordinary heroes, and plenty of ordinary anti-heroes.
Your item song description made me LOL. Kuwait, pre-Invasion, was a dry country. The Kuwaiti government would conduct raids into private expat residences to ensure no one was illegally brewing anything.
Here’s my overall regret: Why make up a unlikely superhero and project it as the (mostly) real story? There are so many (fictional) dramatic stories one could write that kept the spirit of the event so much closer to reality…
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hrishi
January 31, 2016
very disappointing review. what is this indian heart business? how is an indian heart different from any other? are you confusing it with Bollywood melodrama? in that case the reviewer seems to have fallen for the movie’s false propaganda. poorly researched film, deliberate manipulation of facts, too many cringe worthy scenes
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Utkal
February 1, 2016
I too found the film somewhat plodding, and moving to its climax without any surprise. But in a way that is the strength of the film… it looks real and you can take in all the characters and their interaction leisurely. Adding thrills would have undone it. It would have become one more of those Bollywood actioners. The audiences are liking it because it looks and feels different. Some liberties have been taken, but those look natural. Adding any more twists and thrills would have robed the film of its different feel.
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Utkal
February 1, 2016
It is impossible not to like Airlift. For one, it is the kind of film that has not been made in Bollywood so far. Second: It sports some very good writing, with a lot of detailing and a healthy respect for the audience’s intelligence. And there are the performances.
Airlift is not an actioner, it is not a thriller. One could call it a crisis management and logistics drama. There is a task and it has to be done. The film is about how it is done. The task, of course, is to evacuate the 170,000 Indians stuck in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion in the 90’s.
The film engages you within the first few minutes when we see tanks in flames in a desert landscape. What makes the film stand out from previous such attempt at adventure drama attempted in Bollywood (like say Deewar: Bringing Back Our Heroes) is how real things feel. Kuwait looks like Kuwait. The labour camp of Indians look like a labour camp, the inmates look like Indian workers and the war zone looks like a war zone.
Read the rest at : http://utkaleidoscope.com/airlift/
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anujsharma587Anuj
February 1, 2016
AIRLIFT needs to be watched as a work of fiction. Its a “fictitious” masterpiece “inspired” by true events. Read my review on :
http://thesimplemoviereviewer.blogspot.in/2016/01/airlift-movie-review-brilliant-fiction.html
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Raja Krishna Menon
February 3, 2016
Hi Mr. Baradwaj Ranjan, I am a big fan of your writing so thanks for taking the time to review Airlift, and my earlier film Barah Aana. I’ve read some of the comments and would have loved to share my perspective but I’ll desist for now.
There is one clarifications I’d like to make though. Yes there were more than two businessmen who helped the Indians in Kuwait through this crisis, but I have based Ranjit Katyal’s actions during this crisis, on the actions orchestrated by Mr. Mathunny Matthews (Sunny Matthews), a Malayali businessman and Mr Harbajan Singh Vedi, a punjabi businessman. Just wanted to clarify that not all the businessmen involved in the evacuation committee were Malayali.
raja krishna menon
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apex
February 3, 2016
@ Rajakrishnamenon: congrats 4 the success of airlift. The plot is just a trope but the product is well intentioned and it shows (& works)
Apt casting of Nimrat kaur..
I was jus talkin to some friends who r into film making. About akshay, the definitive ‘northerner’.. it’s interesting how he’s been acting since eons but the only three films I loved him in and those are career defining for him are by ‘southerners’– Rowdy rathore, holiday and now airlift, plz pass on that his salt n peppa clooney looks workin.. lol
A feedback — wanting to see this film but not showing anywhere near me. Lotsa other people facing same problem, u should’ve released it bigger overseas cheers
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Punee
February 3, 2016
@apex: You live outside India? 😦
And hello, Akki rocked the 90s. Mohra is one of my favorites 🙂 And he’s epic in “Chura Ke Dil Mera” 😛
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MANK
February 3, 2016
but I have based Ranjit Katyal’s actions during this crisis, on the actions orchestrated by Mr. Mathunny Matthews (Sunny Matthews), a Malayali businessman and Mr Harbajan Singh Vedi, a punjabi businessman
Rajakrishnamenon, thanks for that clarification, every malayali i meet has been getting hot under the collar that 2 or more malayali characters have been fused into creating a northerner. Congratulations for the success of the film and expect more such good films from you.
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NeDhaPa
February 3, 2016
@Punee: watched “chura ke dil mera”. couldn’t take eyes off the whole time…objectification he objectification hai. lol
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Punee
February 4, 2016
@NeDhaPa: Now you make me wanna watch it. Its awesome. 😀
My sister became a hugeeee fan after watching that song and Mohra etc. We then went to Bombay on vacation and found out that my grand-dad knew him! They were early morning walking/jogging partners.Her meeting him was one of the highlights of the 90s 😛 (I couldn’t because I was a sleepy head, but my sister did)
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Apu
February 4, 2016
I am late to this show, as being in US, I just got a chance to see the movie yesterday.
I was not bothered by the film’s pace and loved some of the realistic portrayals, along with low drama of some scenes.
However, I would agree with others – the film needed a little more drama. It also needed more characters. There were 1.5 l people supposedly staying together, and we get only snippets of 3-4 families/characters.
I was let down by Nimrat Kaur. After watching her in Lunchbox, this was a shocker. Her styling, dialogues, body language – nothing worked for me. Part of it could be attributed to the fact that her character development was incomplete, as were her relationship with her husband and daughter. I did not understand whether she was hurt and distant from her husband, or still attracted but feeling neglected, or was disillusioned by his profit-loving persona or had made peace with it. Plus, her interaction with her daughter was so off (for e.g., in a crowd of 1.5 lakh people, no mother tells her daughter to hold her hand and walks forward without looking back to check. A mother usually either puts her daughter in front and clears the crowd, or carries her). In fact, the family interaction was hardly there and I hardly ever felt the danger the family was in, even from Ranjit’s point of view. So much so, when the “soch na sake” song starts, I felt that the director was trying to manipulate the crowd.
An above average movie, but could have been so much better in the hands of a director (and maybe a different actress) who could bring emotions to the screen.
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MANK
February 4, 2016
Punee, NeDhaPa,. Akshay was the most objectified hero of the 90’s. watch him in sabse bada khiladi, suhaag, etc etc.. or the garma garam number – in the night no control- with rekha aunty in Khiladiyon ka khiladi, uuuffff, kinky and creepy 😛
Punee, somehow in never imagined you to be sleepy head with you posting comments all around the clock 😀
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apex
February 4, 2016
“Her styling, dialogues, body language – nothing worked for me. ”
— Apu, Nimrat is playing a housewife here (& a mother of a kid or two) not a ramp model lol
@ Punee & @ nedhapa
Gals: to carry “churake dil tera” forward is “dil cheez tujhe de Di” — Keeping with the theme of this thread
Lemme do some FREE PUBLICITY for raja menon –enjoy bro..
My post will sell atleast 20-30 tickets more
Now, note the “FAMILY FRIENDLY” nature of this song — sort of ‘supervising’ that things don’t go “out of hand” lol
Even Nimrat checks out a girl or two here… tempted to ‘experiment’ (ok, lemme stop there!)
In summary, Well shot there Raja menon…
Khamkha saa seene mein
Pyaar ke mahine mein
Ek hi ishaare pe
dil cheez tujhe dedi….
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Punee
February 4, 2016
@apex: Have heard of this tune before I feel, maybe its in of those Arabic songs from the 90s? Ha! Family supervision indeed. Thats something all Indian aunties do for their husbands on Holi and any other occasion they are drunk, na? 😛
Speaking of experimentation and Nimrat, I THINK she is hawt!
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Apu
February 5, 2016
@Apex: Exactly, which is why nothing worked. Her styling, walk, body language was like a model who sometimes remembers that she has a baby.
(I am not too sure why someone needs to play a “model” to have the styling right in a movie btw).
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Apu
February 5, 2016
@Apex and @Punee, probably you both are really really young, but FYI, “supervision of their drunk husbands” or more generally partners, are not limited to age, sex or nationality. Similar to your “Indian aunties”, even young American guys supervise their girlfriends when they are drunk.
Umm Brangan, now I understand what you meant when you mentioned in the “Saala Khadoos” thread about your comment section becoming a dating site.
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apex
February 6, 2016
Thanks Miss Apu for that info …
“even young American guys supervise their girlfriends when they are drunk.”
Ohhh we would never have known. Though y does it sound that u speak from experience 🙂
“Her styling, walk, body language was like a model who sometimes remembers that she has a baby”
btw who says a young mom can not look like a ‘model’…?
Btw I haven’t seen the film yet …(sorry rajakrishnamenon) lol
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apex
February 6, 2016
@ rajakrishnamenon: contd from my comment above. The subject & actor is right.. suggest u remake “the chef” with saif next…
I couldn’t watch airlift but will watch that 1.. Praamise lol
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Apu
February 7, 2016
Apex: as you said that you did not watch the movie, I will stop the discussion here. It is no use going back and forth on opinions without a context 🙂
About supervision: ha ha ha. I am not American, or that young (which is why I mentioned that you two, you and Punee might be really young), or a guy. I was giving an example of a combination that was radically opposite of “Indian aunties” (Indian, older, married, ladies) so American, young, unmarried, men. So there. And I meant that when people are with their partners, they look out for them in case they get drunk for different reasons.
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NeDhaPa
February 7, 2016
@MANK: I was blushing at the reference of “in the night no control with rekha aunty”, thinking you were insinuating something, not so subtly, that too on brji’s decent blog.
Until I saw the “song” on youtube. (Rekha was one of the person who it is said Akki cheated Tandon with).
Now this kind of “suffering” for art, anyone man (actor) would like, no? 🙂 I am thinking lot of people would sign up to be an “actor” to get such roles.
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NeDhaPa
February 7, 2016
WOW…the director himself repied on this thread/movie review. Neat!
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Sanjay
February 9, 2016
Airlift is the Akshay best movie in his entire career, play a superman like role in the movie.
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