Cert 12A
125 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat
If I were to gauge the success of a movie by twitter reaction, Airlift would have been one of the biggest hits of all time.
In fact, it seems as if Akshay Kumar, if he really handles his own social media, has done nothing else but written 'thank you' to adoring fans for a week.
Some Indian movie critics have praised Airlift as Kumar's finest performance to date and yet, in the the UK, it has virtually disappeared from cinema screens after its opening seven days.
Certainly, this is as unashamed a trumpet-blower for India as I have seen on the big screen and perhaps that is why is hasn't resonated so heavily with the ex-pat audience.
But maybe it is because Airlift is not quite as dramatic as its director Raja Krishna Menon wanted it to be.
The film is based on the true story of the rescue of more than 100,000 Indians who were stranded in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion of 1990.
If the movie were to be believed, their evacuation, was down to one man, Ranjit Katiyal (Kumar), who was a ruthless mover and shaker in Kuwait and suddenly developed a philanthropic streak when seeing his countrymen in trouble.
Disappointingly, this is not true. There was no single person who engineered the escape.
I always wonder why movie-makers mess with history when the original story would be dramatic enough if it were told truthfully.
Anyway, Katiyal tries all avenues in Kuwait, in Iraq and with authorities in India but has to keep bouncing back from successive failures.
Along the way he has to deal with stereotypical obstacles in the form of his initially unimpressed wife (Nimrat Kaur), an aggressive Iraqi army major (Inaamulhaq), a lazy but loud non-believer (Prakash Belawadi), and umpteen uncaring Indian government ministers and officers.
Oh, and I had forgotten Iraq's crazed boy soldiers.
I like Akshay Kumar - he brings breeziness to all of his films and his impish grin is irresistible. I reckon if he had been in Kuwait, he really would have been able to lead the evacuation.
Airlift panders to this fantasy, forsaking what could have been a more serious re-telling of this remarkable story.
Reasons to watch: remarkable 'true' story
Reasons to avoid: its characters are unnecessarily hackneyed
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6/10
Star tweet
1,70,000 refugees, 488 flights, 59 days, 1 man! #Airlift based on a true event, in theatres this Friday
