Airlift (Hindi; 2016)
This must be something new for Indian cinema; re-enacting something that happened in the not-so-distant past. Something that is fresh in everybody’s memory, the provider and the affected parties. It is the story of 170,000 Indians who were stranded in Kuwait in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded the country. It highlights the hard work of a single Indian businessman in organising a safe passage for his countrymen.
Ranjith Katiyal is a shrewd trader who walks amongst kings and politicians. He tries as much as possible to assimilate into his host country, listening to their music and trying to understand their culture. All that took a turn when Kuwait was invaded, and he had to fend himself, his family and many of his fellow countrymen.
He fights an uphill battle to ensure of his people and assuring transport out of the country. On one hand, there are the barbaric women-crazy Iraqi soldiers and their money-hungry leaders. Then there are the lethargic bureaucrats who take their own sweet time or find it impossible to rush for rescue.
In the midst of all that, other non-Indians like Pakistanis and Bangladeshis try to join the bandwagon to obtain a hitch back out of the war zone. Issues like passport issuance, travel embargo and mere logistics make Katiyal’s endeavour a Herculean one.
The government agencies cry foul over the filmmaker’s depiction of their officials in a rather unpleasing light. The people in power appear to be non-committal and not forthcoming with their cooperation. They all seem to pass the buck and wait for somebody else to make the decision. With the increasing demand for transparency and accountability in the civil service, this is exactly what the general public wants to see. With the benefit of the artistic licence, the storytellers managed to come out with a movie that not only tries to stir up the Indian-ness spirit but at the same time managed to break the typical love-musical masala mould of filmmaking that Bollywood is known.
This must be something new for Indian cinema; re-enacting something that happened in the not-so-distant past. Something that is fresh in everybody’s memory, the provider and the affected parties. It is the story of 170,000 Indians who were stranded in Kuwait in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded the country. It highlights the hard work of a single Indian businessman in organising a safe passage for his countrymen.
Ranjith Katiyal is a shrewd trader who walks amongst kings and politicians. He tries as much as possible to assimilate into his host country, listening to their music and trying to understand their culture. All that took a turn when Kuwait was invaded, and he had to fend himself, his family and many of his fellow countrymen.
He fights an uphill battle to ensure of his people and assuring transport out of the country. On one hand, there are the barbaric women-crazy Iraqi soldiers and their money-hungry leaders. Then there are the lethargic bureaucrats who take their own sweet time or find it impossible to rush for rescue.
In the midst of all that, other non-Indians like Pakistanis and Bangladeshis try to join the bandwagon to obtain a hitch back out of the war zone. Issues like passport issuance, travel embargo and mere logistics make Katiyal’s endeavour a Herculean one.
The government agencies cry foul over the filmmaker’s depiction of their officials in a rather unpleasing light. The people in power appear to be non-committal and not forthcoming with their cooperation. They all seem to pass the buck and wait for somebody else to make the decision. With the increasing demand for transparency and accountability in the civil service, this is exactly what the general public wants to see. With the benefit of the artistic licence, the storytellers managed to come out with a movie that not only tries to stir up the Indian-ness spirit but at the same time managed to break the typical love-musical masala mould of filmmaking that Bollywood is known.
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