A tale of hope and humanity that breaks all political, societal, religious barriers.

Rating: Null/10 (8 February 2016)

To be honest Hindi patriotic films have never hit the right notes of my nationalistic sensibilities. With dollops of jingoism and nation-bashing there's not much meat to stimulate one's senses barring few like (in last few years) Rang De Basanti or a Swades: We the People (though that was filled with utopia). Last year's ‪Baby‬ was sleek but predictably linear. And then we have Airlift.
Can't believe I watched a film with patriotic undertone which actually didn't play to the gallery. The film might have taken liberties from true events but have depicted things realistically. The plight of the 170000 Indians stranded as refuges in Saddam Hussain's Iraq invaded Kuwait could be felt thanks to Raja Krishna Menon's dexterous execution. The film could easily have swayed to tear-jerking melodrama but Menon's deft handling complimented by some razor sharp writing (Menon himself, Ritesh Shah & Sureah nair) prevented the same. The characterizations and their transitions gelled well with the situations.
Technically the film does proved the we are not far behind the west in terms of depicting war-torn cities and Priya Seth gets away with all the brownie points for her cinematography. In a single frame she craft-fully depicted the plight of whole Kuwait city just at the dawn after the dreadful night when Saddam's men attacked it unwarranted. Seth got able support from Hemanti Sarkar whose editing made the film crisp though they could have easily done away with two unnecessary songs in the 2nd half.
Vicky Sidana demands attention for his immaculate casting. Inaamulhaq (who won our heart in Filmistaan) perfectly depicted a ghoulish Iraqi general. Always reliable Kumud Mishra's commendable performance as the helpful government official will become memorable for sure while Purab Kohli touches your heart as Ibrahim looking for his love. Prakash Belawadi's complaining Joseph act becomes repetitive but he hold on to the character till the end. Nimrat Kaur scores another century after The Lunchbox. I particularly liked the scene where she (as Ranjeet's wife) confronts Joseph accuses Ranjeet of negligence.Feryna Wazhier made her graceful presence felt without any dialogues. And then there's Akshay Kumar who gave a performance of lifetime as Ranjeet Katiyal, a headstrong businessman who believed he to be more of a Kuwaiti than an Indian and his gradual transformation over the course of events. He played the main protagonist but underplays his superstar image thus giving a believable act that showed his growth as an actor. We wish to see more Special 26, Baby, OMG, Airlift in his career.
Having said all the film has its share of flaws as the space was slowing down occasionally in an otherwise taut narrative. Also the scope for some drama had been completely ignored by the makers. The climax is somewhat lame which didn't make the impact needed. May be they wanted to focus more on the incidents that led towards the monumental airlift. Yes, ‪#‎Airlift‬ is indeed a proud historical event which demands respect for all the individuals involved, especially those 488 Air India flights and the two Indians - Manumurthy Matthews and Dr Vedi who were instrumental in getting the balls rolling. As per the film Akshay Kumar's Ranjeet Kaiyal is amalgamation of these two characters.
In the end Airlift is a story of triumph..More than that it is a tale of hope and humanity that breaks all political, societal, religious barriers.