Airlift (film)

Airlift
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaja Krishna Menon
Written by
  • Raja Krishna Menon
  • Suresh Nair
  • Rahul Nangia
  • Ritesh Shah
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPriya Seth
Edited byHemanti Sarkar
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byPrateek Entertainments (India)
B4U Motion Pictures (International)
Release date
    • 21 January 2016 (2016-01-21) (Dubai)
    • 22 January 2016 (2016-01-22) (India)
Running time
125 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹62 Crores[2]
Box office₹221.67 Crores[3]

Airlift is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language thriller drama film directed by Raja Krishna Menon starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur, that follows Ranjit Katyal (played by Kumar), a Kuwait-based businessman as he carries out the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's Iraq which led to the beginning of the Gulf War.[1] The film was jointly produced by Abundantia Entertainment, Cape of Good Films, Emmay Entertainment, Hari Om Entertainment, T-Series and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures on a total budget of ₹320 million.[4] The plot is adapted from the real life story of a Kuwait-based Indian businessman Mathunny Mathews.[5]

Director Menon wrote the script after studying the whole incident of the war and the predicament of Indians based in Kuwait.[6] He then approached Akshay Kumar for the role of a character based on Mathunny Mathews,[7] He agreed to act and produce under his banner of Hari Om Entertainment,[6][8] Kumar reported that his 80% profit share will be included in the film's budget and he will not charge fees.[9][10] Filming began in February 2015.[11][12] The first schedule of the film was reportedly shot in Al-Hamra Palace Beach Resort in Ras Al Khaimah.[13][14] The sets were re-created to depict Kuwait during 1990.[15] The film was shot in several locations including, Ujjain, Bhuj and [16] Rajasthan. Kumar collaborated with the flight company Air India to promote the film, which had a major contribution to the evacuation of a record-breaking number of Indians during the war.[17]

Airlift opened theatrically worldwide on 22 January 2016, coinciding with Republic Day weekend.[18] The film received positive reviews from the critics, praising the film's strong writing, soundtrack, scale, editing, cinematography and significant praise went to Akshay Kumar for his acting, calling it one of his best performances. The film was a commercial success, it emerged as a blockbuster at Indian as well as abroad box office.[9] Airlift has grossed over ₹2.21 billion in global markets.[3] The film is featured among the 2016 Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India.[19]

  1. ^ a b "AIRLIFT (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Akshay Kumar and his ruling box office successes". Mumbai Mirror. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Airlift Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  4. ^ Sonup Sahadevan (25 November 2015). "When Akshay Kumar cried without using glycerine in 'Airlift'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Toyota Sunny, unsung hero of Kuwait war who inspired the film 'Airlift', passes away". www.thenewsminute.com. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b Amrita Tanna (19 January 2016). "Raja Krishna Menon on 'Airlift': "First time you'll see a vulnerable Akshay Kumar"". Media 24x7. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Avinash Lohana (24 December 2015). "Akshay readily agreed for 'Airlift'". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Akshay Kumar to charge 80 percent of profit as remuneration for Airlift". Bollywood Hungama. 4 March 2015. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Akshay Kumar to not charge a penny for 'Airlift'". The Indian Express. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Check out: Akshay Kumar's Airlift commences shooting". Bollywood Hungama. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. ^ Ishita Blaggan (24 February 2015). "First Look: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur in Airlift". NDTV Network. NDTV. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  13. ^ E 24/7 (15 March 2015). "'Airlift': Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur cook-up storm in Ras Al Khaimah". Emirates 24/7. Retrieved 22 January 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Akshay Kumar shoots for 'Airlift' at Ras Al Khaimah in Kuwait". DC Webdesk. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  15. ^ Manjusha Radhakrishnan (21 March 2015). "Akshay Kumar's 'Airlift' in UAE: tabloid! on set". GN Webdesk. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  16. ^ Kasmin Fernandes (30 January 2015). "Akshay Kumar to start shooting Airlift next month". The Times Group. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  17. ^ Priya Guptha (19 August 2014). "Airlift: Akshay Kumar's next a thriller of the biggest human evacuation". The Times Group. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  18. ^ "Do watch 'Airlift', you'll feel proud to be an Indian: Akshay Kumar". CNN-IBN. Indo-Asian News Service. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  19. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)