Ahead of the release of AIRLIFT, International icon and humanitarian Akshay Kumar will now be seen in a heart-touching video message requesting fellow Indians to share their stories and moments that made them feel #PROUDTOBEANINDIAN.
Akshay Kumar can be seen in the video sharing his thoughts on India, “Every day thousands of people help others, stand for the rights of people, and also die for the safety of others without caring about their life, wellbeing or greed. You can pick up history textbooks to see that the people of India have always cared. Like for example, Operation Madad of 2004 where thousands of people were airlifted out of Tsunami affected areas. Operation Sukoon of 2006 in Lebanon or Operation Raahat of 2015 where Indian Force rescued thousands of people in Yemen. I am proud of being an Indian. Yes I am an Indian and proud to be one. Share with me any such stories and moments that made you feel proud to be an Indian by using the #ProudToBeIndian.”
The actor also took to Twitter to raise the curtain for this noble, crowd-sourcing initiative when he tweeted to his fans, “India truly cares for her people, Tell me your stories using #ProudToBeIndian”
Airlift is an edge-of-the-seat entertaining thriller. The story, based on a true event, is set in 1990 in Kuwait, the time of the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The film has Akshay Kumar, playing Ranjit Katyal, a wealthy and powerful Indian businessman, who initially considers himself a Kuwaiti rather than an Indian. But after finding himself and the lives of his family in danger, eventually becomes the man who helps evacuate 1,70,000 Indians from Kuwait and brings them back safely to India. Over 59 days, 488 Air India commercial airliners were flown into a war zone to evacuate 170,000 Indians and bring them back home safely.
Airlift is the story of the largest human evacuation in history, which has also found its way to the Guinness Book Of World Records. In a cynical world, where one often wonders what the country has done for them, this is a stark reminder of what the country did, not for one or ten, but for 170,000 of its own. An event which has almost been lost in the sands of history, but an event we all need to remember.
Airlift is directed by Raja Krishna Menon and stars Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur (Homeland, The Lunchbox).
The film releases internationally on 21st January in the UAE and 22 January internationally through B4U.
All the messages and messages can be seen on a Proud To Be Indian Wall here: http://www.proudtobeindian.
