Airlift (2016 film)

Airlift
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Raja Krishna Menon
Produced by	Nikhil Advani Monisha Adwani Aruna Bhatia Madhu G. Bhojwani Bhushan Kumar Krishan Kumar Vikram Malhotra
Written by	Raja Krishna Menon Suresh Nair Rahul Nangia Ritesh Shah
Based on	1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait
Starring	Akshay Kumar Nimrat Kaur
Music by	Songs: Amaal Mallik Ankit Tiwari Background score: Arijit Dutta
Cinematography	Priya Seth
Edited by	Hemanti Sarkar
Production company	Abundantia Entertainment Cape of Good Films Emmay Entertainment Hari Om Entertainment T-Series Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
Distributed by	Prateek Entertainment
Release date	21 January 2016 (2016-01-21) (Dubai) 22 January 2016 (2016-01-22) (India)
Running time	125 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹30 crore
Box office	est. ₹231.6 crore

Airlift is a 2016 Indian historical drama film directed by Raja Krishna Menon, starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur. The film follows Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar), a Kuwait-based businessman, as he carries out the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

With a budget of ₹300 million (US$4.5 million), the film premiered worldwide on 22 January 2016. The marketing of the film played an important role in the film's promotion and collaboration with the flight company Air India, who had a major contribution in the evacuation of record-breaking number of Indians during the war. The film is featured among the 2016 Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India. The film won for its background score one Zee Cine Award. Akshay Kumar received the National Film Award for Best Actor at the 64th National Film Awards for his performance in the film.

In 1990 Kuwait, Indian businessman Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar) is a fictional character based on the real-life events of Mathunny Mathews. Ranjit is a successful Kuwait-based businessman who is very well-connected in Kuwait and Iraq, and makes a happy home with his wife Amrita (Nimrat Kaur) and little daughter Simu. He calls himself a Kuwaiti and is often derisive towards Indians.