'Airlift' review: Amazing acting, editing & scale

Rating: *** 1/2

Genre: Drama

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur, Prakash Belawadi, Kumud Mishra, Purab Kohli, Inaamulhaq

Director: Raja Krishna Menon

Language: Hindi

Featuring one of Akshay Kumar's best performances, " Airlift" is an intense fictional account of a real-life incident. Kumar plays a wealthy Indian businessman Ranjit Katyal, not particularly fond of India. Katyal's golden life in the desert crumbles when Iraqi forces invade Kuwait. Suddenly, innocent civilians are ravaged by Saddam Hussein's military forces. Katyal and his family (wife Amrita is portrayed by Nimrat Kaur) are given an opportunity to exit by Iraqi major Halaf (Inaamulhaq). But his conscience won't let him leave behind 1,70,000 fellow Indians, desperately looking for help after their embassy exits the country.

Instead of relying on his trademark swagger, Kumar delivers a mature and controlled performance. As his exasperated but loving wife, Kaur conveys a brittle edginess.



The cameos are outstanding. Prakash Belawadi brings alive the surly and suspicious George, Kumud Mishra impresses as a quietly determined MEA babu and Inaamulhuq oozes smooth menace as the major.

Where "Airlift" impresses the most is in its editing and scale. Some sequences — Iraqi soldiers molesting an Indian girl, looting shops, all the while singing along to 'Ek Do Teen' — are harrowing.



The film could've intensified the dread to the levels seen in unforgettable siege/rescue films like "Hotel Rwanda" (2004), where you felt every second acutely. Regardless of these minor problems, "Airlift" works because it is a timely reminder that armies can turn on civilians (side note: you're struck by how IS was born from the Iraqi army's core) and that humanity can shine through even in the most hopeless circumstances.

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Also Read: 'Airlift': Not an average Bollywood film, Akshay Kumar impresses with impactful performance

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