Ashdoc's movie review---Airlift

ashdoc

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Airlift is a film based on a true story---the aerial evacuation of one hundred and seventy thousand Indians trapped in Kuwait after Saddam Hussein invaded that country in 1990 and that region became a war zone . The feat of evacuating such a large number of people by civilian aircraft remains the largest such civilian airlift in world history . But strangely this very real fact has not been given prominence by either the Indian media or government , and it is only a quarter century after the airlift that someone has woken up to make a film on it . Giving oneself a pat on the back is apparently an art forgotten by Indians , who are more busy making films glorifying dons based in Karachi or denigrating the country's image overseas .

And the pat on the back is not given to the real persons who were involved in the making of the evacuation , for the simple reason that they do not fit the stereotypical image of the Bollywood hero---neither do they look like heroes nor do they seem to be punjabi . So a punjabi hero is invented out of thin air , and he is shown to be the main protagonist of the evacuation . The real heroes get their photos shown only at the fag end of the movie when finally due credit is given to them . So we have to endure a completely fictitious punjabi hero doing the heroics rather than the real persons , and this is the biggest flaw of the film .

So Akshay Kumar plays a Kuwait based punjabi businessman who is not in love with his Indian roots , named Ranjeet Katiyal . He considers himself more Kuwaiti than Indian apparently because Kuwait is more rich . But very soon an event occurs that makes him remember his Indianness---Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi army invades Kuwait...and while Kuwaitis are dying dog's deaths at the hands of Iraqi soldiers , Indians are safe . For the Indian government had gone to great lengths to cultivate good relations with Saddam Hussein in the past , he being the only ruler in the islamic world to support India on the Kashmir issue . So Indians are not going to be killed for the time being . But time is running out even then , for if the Indians are not evacuated quickly then they will become trapped in a war between the Iraqis and American led coalition that is hell bent on liberating Kuwait .

Since Ranjeet is shown to be a rich and influential man , it is upto him to safeguard the people who work for him---and like a responsible person , he starts to so exactly that . This even though his wife ( played by Nimrat Kaur ) is exasperated by his taking so much responsibility and not looking only for his family's safety . And he is soon forced to look out for other Indians who come to his office to seek shelter , including some really pesky ones like the character ( George ) played by Prakash Belawadi . As the Iraqi army goes on the rampage in Kuwait , the task of looking out for Indians' safety involves kowtowing to the demands for bribes by the Iraqi officer stationed in the area , trying to arrange food and other supplies for the trapped Indians , making trips to Iraq to get the permission from Iraqi authorities to allow the Indians to leave Kuwait , in the meantime trying to smuggle Indians out of Kuwait , phoning the Indian government back home to try to get the lethargic government babus to work on organizing the airlift , and hiding the lone Kuwaiti woman who has come to him seeking refuge to the extent of taking grave personal risk for himself because the Iraqis almost rape his wife when they realise that he is sheltering a Kuwaiti---forcing him to fight them in filmy fashion in what is a completely fictitious scene .

Needless to say , Ranjeet does his task with aplomb---our Bollywood punjabi heroes never fail do they....and slowly even his wife comes round to admire what he has been doing , to the point of shutting up the mouth in a verbal duel of the pesky person ( George ) who has been mouthing his platitude of complaints in front of Ranjeet every now and then .

The film has some real moments of emotion---when the efforts of Ranjeet to save the Indians come close to failure , and above all when the efforts meet success....you get real goosebumps when the Indian refugees see the tricolour ( Indian flag ) flying high in the wind in their refugee camp on reaching Jordan , the flying of which is signal that Indians will get the passport to sit in the planes which will take them home . The Indian pilots who are ready to take the risk to pilot their planes to the middle east ( which is on the brink of war ) are the heroes too , and so are the government officers who work tirelessly to get the airlift organized .

The hero as far as the film is concerned is the director , who has made a film that gets better and better as it progresses and gives us an emotional high at the climax---reminding those Indians who live in the gulf and who have forgotten their homeland that ultimately it is the nation's flag that comes to their rescue in the troubled lands of the middle east where fortunes can change at the whiff of a dictator's or king's whim and where stability and money is a fickle thing . Subtly , it also is an advertisement for India's much maligned ( even by myself !! ) foreign policy of non alignment---for those Indians could have been held hostages by the Iraqis if India had been an ally of America .

Akshay Kumar acts well , and so does Nimrat Kaur . Purab Kohli acts well as the Indian muslim who has lost his wife but saves a young Kuwaiti woman , ultimately posing as her husband to save her . Music and songs are good . The belly dance should have concentrated on the belly dancers rather than the antics of Akshay Kumar !! Kumud Mishra puts up a restrained performance as the ( again fictitious ) government officer who convinces the government minister to organize the airlift and arrange for money to finance the airlift .

Ultimately the pat on the back given to a fictitious person is still a pat on the back , and even though the film neglects the real heroes of the airlift it at least remembers a glorious episode in our annals . Something that we should be proud of . That the film is a good effort at remembering that episode is the icing on the cake .

Verdict---Good .
Three and a half stars .
 

ezsasa

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Script and screen play was the real hero of the film. none the less a good movie and a must watch atleast once. The production team managed the best they could with the 30 crore budget.

i also liked the subliminal messages in the film:
1) No matter which country you live, Indian is our identity.
2) Bureaucracy is actually who run the country.
3) India has been good to Iraq even when the whole world was against it.(Pretty sure not may people know about this).
4) When Push comes to shove, Indians really get things done.
 

Srinivas_K

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Script and screen play was the real hero of the film. none the less a good movie and a must watch atleast once. The production team managed the best they could with the 30 crore budget.

i also liked the subliminal messages in the film:
1) No matter which country you live, Indian is our identity.
2) Bureaucracy is actually who run the country.
3) India has been good to Iraq even when the whole world was against it.(Pretty sure not may people know about this).
4) When Push comes to shove, Indians really get things done.
Saddam Hussain was a good friend of India.
 

Nuvneet Kundu

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Good to see that these kind of movies are receiving accolades and good ratings.
Good to see that these kind of movies are being made in the first place! What a shame that we have the largest film industry on the planet but there aren't proper films on 1965, 1971, Kargil war after the first batch of Border and Lakshya.

Check how many movies the US made about world war, how many movies Jews make about holocaust.

The government should commission such movies on a strictly paid-per-project basis. The government should state the theme of the film, the interested director/producers will make bids, the government should then choose an official media partner and make the movie. We are sitting on a goldmine of soft power but we aren't utilizing it properly and then we complain that BBC is talking about India's daughter. Let them talk about our daughter, we will talk about their mother. :D
 

Sakal Gharelu Ustad

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Some people like Akshay Mishra were lambasting the movie on firstpost citing how nationalistic and false the movie is.

As long as its nationalistic, it does not matter whether is fiction or real. These media dogs need to be shown their place. @ashdoc--thanks for writing another great review!
 

HariPrasad-1

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Saddam Hussain was a good friend of India.
He asked India Gandhi to name one of his son. Indira named him Uday. At the time of Indo Pak war, Gulf countries stopped the supply of crude oil to India. Indira called saddam. He immediately order one of the oil ship which was going to Europe to take a turn and go to India.
 

Sakal Gharelu Ustad

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Good to see that these kind of movies are being made in the first place! What a shame that we have the largest film industry on the planet but there aren't proper films on 1965, 1971, Kargil war after the first batch of Border and Lakshya. Check how many movies the US made about world war, how many movies Jews make about holocaust. The government should commission such movies on a strictly paid-per project basis. the government should state the theme of the film, the interested director/producers will make bids, the government should then choose an official media partner and make the movie. We are sitting on a goldmine of soft power but we aren't utilizing it properly and then we complain that BBC is talking about India's daughter. Let them talk about our daughter, we will talk about their mother. :D
The box-office numbers for such movies should swell up. The hindus need to just go and promote even if the movie is shitty but nationalistic. We should not expect much from govt. as they are useless.

This will bring out the best in movie industry. Money works the best. Akshay has made 3-4 nationalistic movies in the last 2 years, which explains that these movies are spinning money and hence he is doing them again and again. I hope more directors wake up to it. Madras cafe was good as well and we need more directors to dig into our history.
 

Razor

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Saddam Hussain was a good friend of India.
Was india a friend of saddam? i guess not
It's not just about the oil, but also about kashmir wrt saddam.
but now that guy's dead and the region fucked, courtesy global bully USA.

----------------
Thanks for the review, movie looks good for this weekend. :)
 

Nuvneet Kundu

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The box-office numbers for such movies should swell up. The hindus need to just go and promote even if the movie is shitty but nationalistic. We should not expect much from govt. as they are useless.

This will bring out the best in movie industry. Money works the best. Akshay has made 3-4 nationalistic movies in the last 2 years, which explains that these movies are spinning money and hence he is doing them again and again. I hope more directors wake up to it. Madras cafe was good as well and we need more directors to dig into our history.
Or at least the government could make it tax free and once it is out of the theaters, buy the rights for the film and start showing it on DoorDarshan. We underestimate the reach of DD, but it is the single largest channel in India with massive rural viewership.

Btw, I am getting a slight suspicion that Akshay Kumar will turn into an AAPtard. There was news last month that Kejriwal called him to meet in his office. When he came out, the media asked him what they discussed, he said we talked about how to help farmers in Maharashtra. That's what raised a red flag in my head. A few weeks later, I noticed that Akshay Kumar appears in a paid Delhi government advertisement on NDTV about farmers. Dude, they are recruiting! AAP has recruited a lot of actors, that's how the CIA funds anti-national movements in any nation. They have a deep pocket, they simply buy out the top recognized faces in the society and form a pressure group that influences people's minds. Did you know that Abhay Deol is with GreenPeace? Akshay Kumar is compromised. Wait and watch, he will start making pro-NGO voices.

 

Razor

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Good to see that these kind of movies are being made in the first place! What a shame that we have the largest film industry on the planet but there aren't proper films on 1965, 1971, Kargil war after the first batch of Border and Lakshya.

Check how many movies the US made about world war, how many movies Jews make about holocaust.

The government should commission such movies on a strictly paid-per-project basis. The government should state the theme of the film, the interested director/producers will make bids, the government should then choose an official media partner and make the movie. We are sitting on a goldmine of soft power but we aren't utilizing it properly and then we complain that BBC is talking about India's daughter. Let them talk about our daughter, we will talk about their mother. :D
But when US govt. makes movies; their support is not emphasized and for good reason.
The US gov/ CIA has been actively involved in plenty of movies ranging from showcasing their weaponry (Transformers) to projecting a prisitine image (that coffee maker in BH Down was a child rapist/molester.)

What the Ind gov shd do is embedd people in the cinema making process.
 
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Sakal Gharelu Ustad

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Or at least the government could make it tax free and once it is out of the theaters, buy the rights for the film and start showing it on DoorDarshan. We underestimate the reach of DD, but it is the single largest channel in India with massive rural viewership.

Btw, I am getting a slight suspicion that Akshay Kumar will turn into an AAPtard. There was news last month that Kejriwal called him to meet in his office. When he came out, the media asked him what they discussed, he said we talked about how to help farmers in Maharashtra. That's what raised a red flag in my head. A few weeks later, I noticed that Akshay Kumar appears in a paid Delhi government advertisement on NDTV about farmers. Dude, they are recruiting! AAP has recruited a lot of actors, that's how the CIA funds anti-national movements in any nation. They have a deep pocket, they simply buy out the top recognized faces in the society and form a pressure group that influences people's minds. Did you know that Abhay Deol is with GreenPeace? Akshay Kumar is compromised. Wait and watch, he will start making pro-NGO voices.

You need to cut some slack to these guys. They are not as well read or aware about stuff like us. They do not always see the evil design. But don't expect Akshay to start portraying anti-Indian terrorist filth if NDTV pays him. It is easy money and people sometimes just get it.
 

Nuvneet Kundu

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Was india a friend of saddam? i guess not
It's not just about the oil, but also about kashmir wrt saddam.
but now that guy's dead and the region fucked, courtesy global bully USA.

----------------
Thanks for the review, movie looks good for this weekend. :)
India was a friend of Saddam. India trained Saddam's army and airforce. We had very robust intel links with their Baath party as well. The senior officer core that is fighting in Iraq, under whatever name, was trained by India. In fact, during the recent case of evacuating Indian nurses from Iraq, it is these links which were revived which is why ISIS (which is basically erstwhile Saddam's army) let those nurses go.

India and France both had great symbiotic ties with Iraq before the US fucked the nation up. I am sure that hurting France and India was a very desirable byproduct for the Americans. Two countries with independent foreign policies, looked at with suspicion by US. They got to hurt both by invading Iraq. We lost cheap oil, we lost the say we had in the Sunni world. Saddam kept the Sunnis contained so India had millions of Sunnis less to worry about. Now it's a free for all.
 
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Nuvneet Kundu

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What the Ind gov shd do is embedd people in the cinema making process.

Madhur Bhandarkar is one such pro-India guy. He recently went to Pakistan and spoke in favor of Modi against an onslaught of prejudiced questions by that Paki anchor bitch talking about 'intolerance'

 

Nuvneet Kundu

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All arabs are good friend of india.

interestingly if you go to Palestine and say u r Indian u r respected and in Israel if u say u r Indian u r respected
.


:):):):):):):):):):)
but when Indian muslim join ISIS, they are made to clean toilet :D

Arabs are the most racist people who consider slavery their birth right. The brown muslims of subcontinent are considered sub-human slaves. There are laws in Saudi that prohibit Arabs from marrying brown muslims for fear of contamination of their pure race. According to arab, Indian are not even worthy of fighting so that guy who went was made to clean poo poo :D
 

aliyah

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but when Indian muslim join ISIS, they are made to clean toilet :D

Arabs are the most racist people who consider slavery their birth right. The brown muslims of subcontinent are considered sub-human slaves. There are laws in Saudi that prohibit Arabs from marrying brown muslims for fear of contamination of their pure race. According to arab, Indian are not even worthy of fighting so that guy who went was made to clean poo poo :D
stop watching too many paki vids n news craps :)
Indian's are respected in arab world .
 

Nuvneet Kundu

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stop watching too many paki vids n news craps :)
Indian's are respected in arab world .
None of the information that led to the inferences that I arrived at, was sourced from Pakistan. Have you heard about Tarek Fatah? He's a Canadian citizen of desi heritage, watch this video for the rest of the story :


 

kafir kaur

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This movie has earned over 100 cr in India alone which means it was well received by the audience.

It was overall an excellent movie but wish they had shown more of evacuation efforts put in by goi, air india and iaf jointly.
 

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