At the promotion ofAirlift, Akshay Kumar dismissed all speculation about the movie being inspired by Hollywood film Argo and confessed that he was not aware of the attack on Kuwait before he read the script. He also said that if offered, he would gladly become the face for Incredible India's campaign. Arjita Mishra reports
There have been several incidences when the Indian Armed Forces (IAF) helped us to come out of situation like wars, terror attack and other natural calamities. A very apt example of it is ‘Operation Raahat’ which was conducted by the IAF to evacuate Indian citizens during the crisis in Yemen last year. They proved that when it comes to bringing back people safely to the country in times of distress from anywhere in the world, they are more than capable in their job.
This was just a small example of evacuation of Indian citizen which was completed by the Armed Forces. But in 1990, when Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait, many Indian residents there became homeless. At that time Air India took a step forward and helped them reach the country safely. “There were 1,70,000 Indians, who had became homeless and at that time, they had given up hope that someone would come to save them. It is a matter of pride for us that the commercial pilots of Air India put their lives at risk to save them. In 59 days and 488 flights, they got all our citizens back,” said Akshay Kumar whose forthcoming film Airlift is based on the incidence that shook both Kuwait and all the Indians stranded there. He added, “Through this film, we want to show that India is the greatest country.”
Talking more about his role, Kumar said, “I am playing a role of a businessman who is very sharp. At the time of attack he uses that sharpness to talk to the Iraq Government and tries to negotiate with them so that they allow him to take 1,70,000 people from Kuwait to India and keep them safe.”
For the past few days it was rumoured that the film is an adaptation of the Hollywood film Argo but the actor cleared all doubts. He said, “The film is not adapted from the Hollywood film. In Argo, they showed the rescue of six people whereas inAirlift we are showing the evacuation of 1,70,000 people. It is not an adaptation or copy; it is something which we should be proud of. How can it be copied if it is based on any real incidenceIJ” He added, “We want people to know about the incidence because many of us are unaware of it.”
Airliftis a film which is set in a war and is the story of Ranjit Katyal, a character who goes through this situation.
lunchboxfame Nimrat Kaur who is portraying Kumar’s wife in the film said, “I am playing a character of Ranjit Katyal’s (Kumar) wife. She is very outspoken, she is not fearful. She goes through a journey with her husband where after the attack, they become homeless and jobless, without any identity. She was against of what her husband was doing during the war but later on she supports him.”
When Kaur was asked about her journey in the industry so far, she replied, “My journey has been like a fairy tale. I have been working in Mumbai for over a decade now and in between these three things (music, ads, films) there has been a lot of things which no one knows because in the career of any actor only high points are remembered by everyone. It has been an interesting journey because of the fact that the industry is really unpredictable. You don’t plan your career. When anything comes to you, then you decide whether you want to do it or not.”
She feels very lucky to be a part of the film and accepted that she came to know about the incidence only after she read the script. “When I read the script I did not know that this had happened and I was shocked to realise that I was unaware of this major unfortunate event,” she said. Kumar also agreed with Kaur and said, “Even I was unaware of this and I came to know about this from my director. Then I decided to be part of Airlift.”
When Kumar was asked about the reason behind choosing patriotic films back to back he said, “I have kept on changing myself all the time. Sometimes I am in my comfort zone and sometimes I want to do challenging roles. Singh is Bling and Houseful 3 were a very comfort zone for me but this one is not. I did Brothers, and that was the most difficult film that I have done in my entire career.” He went on, “I have done Oh My God which was on religion, then I did Special 26, in which I played a con man and now in Robot 2 I am playing a villain. So, there is nothing like I am doing only patriotic films.”
In the industry, where Khans prefer to do one or two films in a year, we have seen Kumar doing three to four. He explained his time management and said, “Being a Delihiite, I know how to do time management. To make a film, it takes maximum 60 days and if you add 10 days of promotion to it, then also you have much time to spend with family. And that is the reason why I do three to four films in a year.”
When asked whether he would agree to become the band ambassador of Incredible India’s campaign of Atithi devo bhava, if offered, he said, “It will be an honour for me to become brand ambassador for Incredible India, and I think not only me but everyone would gladly love to become the face for the campaign.”
photo Sunny Mathews