A non-bollywood film

Rating: 9/10 (25 January 2016)

Airlift:
Hindi film industry regularly doles out movies targeting NRI's, who form a significant audience both in terms of numbers and collections. For the top actors, it has been a major strategy to target such scripts which appeal to the NRI's while the desi audience got to enjoy the foreign locales and imagine themselves driving swanky cars and partying in high rises. What the industry used to shy away were Original stories and Adapted screenplay as it required a professional approach in direction and a mature audience to appreciate and pay for the efforts. Recent years has sprang up a surprising number of movies inspired by real situations, be it from sports (Milkha, Paan singh), Crime ( Talwar, Charles) or even inspirational people (Maanjhi). However, they didn't target the aforementioned NRI audience.
The makers of Airlift choose a rare heroic incident to appeal equally to the desi and swadesi audience. The incident itself revealing the story of world's largest civilian evacuation led by a businessman in Kuwait during Iraq's surprise overnight military onslaught, could have killed the audience's curiosity, promotions ensuring everyone knew the story. It left the director / writer to lift the movie only through screenplay and good acting. The success of the film is exactly in that, and also in casting.
Akshay Kumar, after years of experience in myriad low IQ comedies has started exploring his potential with Neeraj Pandey movies, giving the audience hope of a genuine act. As the suavé industrialist, he has us convinced that he is a Kuwaiti, accidentally born as an Indian within a few minutes. Nimrat Kaur as the pretty punjabi wife refuses to be confined to sidelines with her natural expressions while packing a punch in her dialogues. Purab Kohli in a wonderfully understated key role adapts really well and hold his own, in front of Akshay. The winning role however is that of Prakash Belawadi as George Kutty, the quintessential middle class Mallu, whom everyone in the audience could relate to so easily. His acts of questioning the leader without ever volunteering for it, complaining without ever acting on it, quoting rules which he'd easily toss out when convenient and asking for justice when he feels he has received a raw deal, have a lot of resonance with most of us who would instinctively mouth 'Kya item hai?' while watching his performance and behave exactly in the same way if confounded with his situation. If his wasn't the best supporting role, i don't know what would be.
Apart from the cast, the screenplay ensures many moments which tug the audience's heartstrings including the raising of Indian flag in a foreign airport, with the BGM. The horror of invasion and the desperateness one feels during violation of human rights is presented without going overboard. The humané instincts of feeling safer in a group and being patriotic when it serves us is also brought up subtly. While snubbing the Indian External Affairs ministry, first for inaction and then for taking up the credit, the efforts by the Joint secretary (real wheels of government) are well appreciated and so are the Air India pilots for flying into a warzone for evacuations.
I'd recommend Airlift for all those who are residing out of India and also those in India who know someone out there. Oh, and do watch in theatres, at least the good movies deserve our spends.