Airlift 2016

In 1990, Ranjit Katyal Akshay Kumar is a successful Indian expatriate based in Kuwait. He lives a polished life, maintains strong ties with officials in Kuwait City and Baghdad, and often presents himself as a Kuwaiti while quietly looking down on Indians. His wife Amrita Katyal Nimrat Kaur and their daughter Simu share a warm, stable home, even as Ranjit’s outward confidence hides a pretentious edge.

After a night of partying, a phone call shatters the mirage: negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait have collapsed, and Iraqi troops have begun their invasion. By morning, Kuwait City is occupied by the Iraqi Army. Ranjit and his driver Nair race toward the Indian embassy in a bid to evacuate their family, but at a checkpoint Nair is shot dead in the confusion. Ranjit is then taken to the Emir’s palace, where Major Khalaf Bin Zayd Inaamulhaq reveals that he himself blocked the checkpoint earlier and now offers personal protection, signaling a fragile but real lifeline for Ranjit and his kin.

From the palace, Ranjit heads to the Indian embassy and learns that the Kuwaiti government has fled into exile, leaving roughly 170,000 Indians in Kuwait stranded as refugees. Iraqi forces raid Ranjit’s mansion, though his wife and child manage to escape to his office. With Major Khalaf’s permission, Ranjit convinces a group of friends to pool resources and set up a makeshift camp for about 500 Indians, creating a fragile sanctuary amid the chaos.

Amrita urges him to leverage his position to rescue his own family, yet a change in his outlook begins to surface. He chooses to stay and help the broader community of refugees rather than fleeing alone, a decision that marks a turning point in his character.

Determined to mobilize a real evacuation, Ranjit reaches out to New Delhi and speaks with Joint Secretary Sanjiv Kohli Kumud Mishra. Kohli is inspired by a passage in his own family history—his father recounts the Partition and its losses—and resolves to act: he coordinates with Air India to lead the evacuation and secures permits through the Indian embassy in Amman, Jordan. The plan gains momentum as the refugees begin to move, though challenges persist.

As the camp endures looting and harassment by some Iraqi soldiers, Kohli’s resolve hardens. Kohli’s father’s tale is cited to fuel his drive, a motivation that translates into practical help for Ranjit and thousands of others. In the meantime, the higher-ups reveal a grim barrier: even with passages arranged, a UN embargo blocks ships from entering or leaving Iraq, threatening every hopeful plan.

Ranjit’s coalition, empowered by Kohli’s leadership, presses forward. Air India and Indian Airlines organize the transfers, and the refugees board planes bound for India. A final checkpoint confrontation tests the convoy’s resolve, but the number of evacuees proves decisive, and the group finally reaches Jordan where the flights resume their course homeward.

As the crowds disembark in India, they salute Ranjit for steering a collective rescue rather than pursuing self-interest. The film closes on a reflective note: Ranjit, who once believed India did little for its own citizens, confronts the possibility that being saved by the country he had dismissed may require him to rethink his view of India’s responsibilities and his own relationship to his homeland.

Arun Bali contributed a quiet counterpoint in the story as Kohli’s father, whose memories help spark a shift in Kohli’s own approach to crisis, underscoring how legacies of the past can influence present acts of courage.