Movie Review: Airlift, just a cut above the commonplace

Voila! The sharp businessman’s into booze, breaks into a boogie as if his screws have gone loose. About life’s harsher aspects he has no clues. Till reality bites, and how! 

Now that’s Ranjit Katyal, the semi-fictionalised good-time guy of Airlift --  directed by Raja Krishna Menon -- based on the true events behind the awesome evacuation of 1,70,000 Indians from Kuwait, circa 1990 during the Persian Gulf War. Saddam Hussein’s forces had gone on a carnage spree in Kuwait: Indians had to be brought back home, and fast, by 488 civilian aircrafts. Here’s perfect material, then, for a gutsy, high-concept thriller.

For sure, Menon’s endeavour is more than commendable but you’re not quite sure about its execution, which seeks to present Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar) as a mega-messiah with a few tadkas from Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. In the vein of Oskar Schindler, our Kool Katyal is consumed by his conscience and sets out to do the absolutely right thing. Ping.

Indeed, Katyal’s bipolar switch from an irresponsible dude to a Godly Samaritan -- after witnessing the killing of his chauffeur -- is far too facile. For starters, it’s as unconvincing as the creepy army captain (played by a Deepak Dobriyal wannabe), who quotes Amitabh Bachchan’s line from Deewar, “Aaj khush toh bahut honge tum...” Weirdo!

Next, Katyal’s biwi (Nimrat Kaur) also doesn’t seem to know her mind. At the outset, she’s an upright sort capable of combating crises. However, in a flash, she wants to catch the next flight with her daughter, who has a thing about teddy bears, to London. Oh!

Trouble ahead: the Kuwait airport’s closed. In the event, Mrs. fusses, changes costumes in every scene, but at long last, darts uber friendly smiles at her husband-turned-messiah. And even tongue-lashes a pernickety Indian (very irritating) who dares to question the modus operandi of the evacuation. Hellzapoppin’, you might gather, as everyone in sight is in a lather.

To be fair, the script does become riveting when it focuses on Katyal’s desperate attempts to get help from the Indian embassies besides the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi. Unarguably, the most believable characterisation turns out to be that of a mild-mannered Mr. Kohli (Kumud Mishra), a subordinate staffer in the ministry. At his desk, just about to break for lunch (the scene’s nicely reminiscent of The Lunchbox, by the way), Kohli strives to seize the attention of his minister and then the civil aviation authorities, to avert a mass tragedy.

Gratifyingly the combined efforts of Mild Manners and the heroic stamina of Katyal, culminate in a nail-biting finale. Still to be honest, you can’t help wishing that Airlift had been written without any interpolations of fantasticated elements. A vague love story involving a Kuwaiti widow and the lack of detailing in the actual airlift operations, dilute the impact of a vital chapter in the history of the fortitude of Indian nationalism.

Jarring too are the musical interludes, particularly the boogie woogie song which recalls Khaled’s chartbuster Didi didi, altered here to De de. Not done, hey.

Technically, there’s a pale colour tone throughout, which could have been enlivened in the colour grading.

Of the cast, Kumud Mishra’s the proverbial scene-stealer. Subtly, he creates a lifelike persona of a government underling.

Without a shadow of doubt, Akshay Kumar is in form. Shorn of glamour, he goes against typecasting, often grovelling before that Deewarwaala villain with a mumbled “Shukran.” Nimrat Kaur is disappointing, alas. Apart from a single outburst scene, which she does competently, she merely comes off as a part of the furniture.

In sum, director Raja Krishna Menon and his team have taken pains to be authentic as far as possible in the framework of mainstream entertainment. The outcome’s a cut above the commonplace but that’s it.

With some more fire in its belly, it could have been a film of passion and pride to remember.