An Excellent Masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2016)

The trailer of Airlift created quite a buzz and made people dig internet to find out exactly happened with the Indians stranded in Kuwait during the Gulf War or the events that preceded them. Little did many know till then, about someone like Ranjeet Katiyal or what he did. And we are talking about pre twitter pre facebook days and to a large extent pre mobile and pre internet days as well. So it does remain a 'Story to be told'.
The movie tries to capture the essence of those events, depicting the efforts made by a rich businessman who decided to stay back, take care and finally arrange safe passage of for the more than 150,000 Indians stuck in the war zone.
Story apart and without going deep into the topic whether the events filmed on celluloid happened exactly the same way, it is needless to say that the movie is a cinematic masterpiece in itself. Brilliantly written script, excellent dialogs and cinematography and in every way a flawless production in showing a war torn country and its people who suddenly belong nowhere. The only weak point I found was the time when the protagonist got into a hand fight with the Iraqi soldiers. It is so unbecoming of a shrewd businessman that he is reputed to be.
Akshay Kumar has once again delivered a powerful and believable performance, but the true show stealer has been Ms. Kaur (remember the lonely devoted housewife in 'The Lunchbox'?) with her consistent, effortless, strong yet gentle and graceful performance. Some of the best lines have been bestowed on her, and she delivered them in gold.
It would not be complete without saying that this movie is an apt tribute, just on the eve of the Indian Republic Day, to the unsung heroes of India who have at some point of their lives, dedicated a small part of themselves to the service of their fellowmen, without self and without regret. They rose above the boundaries of religion, language, caste and even borders. And that is the real feat of this movie. Well Done Mr. Menon! 8/10