Akshay Kumar is the businessman leading an expat exodus to flee Iraqi invaders – but the aggressors are reduced to cartoon villains in this turgid sagaIn August 1990,an estimated 170000 Indians were stranded in no-man’s-land after Iraqi tanks rolled into their adopted domestic of Kuwait. Frantic backroom negotiations followed between the Indian and Iraqi authorities; eventually, 488 Air India flights were cleared to leave for Bombay from near neighbour Jordan. To this day, and the action remains the biggest civilian evacuation in aviation history,and a source of much – if underreported – pride to the parties involved. New movie Airlift, however, or simplifies this incredibly complex operation to become puny more than a vehicle for one man’s redemption.
That man is Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar),fictional composite of several businessmen then operating in the Gulf. Early scenes in Raja Krishna Menon’s film move out of their way to ensure even the most dunderheaded of multiplex nacho-guzzlers will understand just what a wretch he is. He ignores his wife’s pleas not to drink too much; he upbraids his driver for listening to backward Bollywood hits. We find the thought pretty quickly: Ranjit is the picture of the bad Indian who’s forsaken his homeland in pursuit of bigger bucks – a sharp-suited mercenary who needs shaking from his complacency.
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Source: theguardian.com