Airlift | One of the best war thrillers of the year

Update:

I think Airlift is one of the very very few movies to have a 9.x rating on IMDb that too with votes upward of 10,000. I rest my case. You should definitely watch this. 😎

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I’m gonna be honest with everyone. I’m not a big Bollywood fan with movies like ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ and ‘Dilwale’ being a prime reason for that. But as soon as saw the trailer of Akshay Kumar’s ‘Airlift’, I decided that I will definitely be watching this one. Akshay Kumar has nowadays finally turned to some intelligent movies after a lot of slapstick comedy movies. His acting in movies like ‘Special 26’ and ‘Baby’ was outstanding and plausible. Since it’s my first movie review, I’ll try to be as much brief as I can be.

So what’s the movie about?

Movie poster

Airlift is a war thriller based on a real-life story of how India evacuated nearly 1,70,000 Indians from Kuwait after it was invaded by Saddam Hussein. Akshay Kumar plays the role of a wealthy businessman Ranjit Katyal, who decides not to leave until he has guaranteed the safety of not only his friends and relatives but also of the 1,70,000 Indians who were also stuck in Kuwait alongside him. The movie is directed by Raja Krishna Menon and also stars Nimrat Kaur, Purab Kohli, Kumud Mishra and Prakash Belawadi.

The Review

The movie begins with the introduction of the protagonist Ranjit Katyal, a businessman who thinks only about gaining profits and nothing else. He doesn’t like India and hates the Bollywood songs, although he sings a Hindi song later in the movie. Akshay Kumar delivers a very powerful performance in this role. The extravagant life of Ranjit Katyal is destroyed one night when Iraq forces invade Kuwait. They start destroying buildings, looting houses and what not. The life around Ranjit starts to crumble. He is offered a getaway ticket from Iraqi Major Half (Inaamulhaq) in exchange for a million dollar for each member of his family. But he decides that he will not run away without helping out all the 1,70,000 Indians who won’t be able to survive. Quite badass eh?

Brilliant acting by Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar is the star of the movie. He lives up to the moment and delivers strongly. The role of Ranjit Katyal has Akshay Kumar written all over it. His acting is so much polished as he is able to display a character who grows from disliking India to becoming a true patriot who is able to make all kind of sacrifices so that he can help all the Indians to reach their country safely. At times, though, I thought that he is given a more central stage than the original plot itself. But hey! That’s how Bollywood works.

Not only Akshay, all the actors give strong performances. Nimrat Kaur, who plays the wife of Akshay Kumar, comes out as a strong personality who initially despises the idea of Akshay’s sudden change of character but soon starts to support him in his noble deeds. Cameos from other characters also support the movie. Prakash Belawadi plays the role of a suspicious person, who questions Akshay’s every judgment and thinks highly of himself. Kumud Mishra also performs extremely well as Meababu who is trying every way he can to help in the evacuation of all the Indians.

Rajesh Menon did an incredible job with direction.

The film is very well directed by Rajesh Menon, who has worked well on every minute detail in the movie. The invasion scenes are superbly edited. Despite that, I thought that some scenes could have been more intense. In a movie based on war, there should have been a more horrific display of brutality of soldiers.

To sum up, the movie is one of the best Bollywood flicks that I’ve seen in a very long time. It truly depicts how people are united in times of war. The scene where Indian flag is hoisted is one of the most memorable moments in the movie. It’s a much watch for everyone.

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Here is the official Airlift trailer for your viewing pleasure: