Akshay Kumar is now prepping for his forthcoming film release ‘Airlift’, releasing internationally on 22nd January 2016. Also starring Nimrat Kaur, ‘Airlift’ is an edge-of-the-seat thriller based on a real incident, which occurred in Kuwait in the 1990s, during the time of the Gulf War. An Indian businessman, Ranjit Katyal (played by Akshay Kumar) helped in evacuating 1,70,000 Indians, safely, back to their home country at the time of crisis.
Here’s the exciting news we will get to see a teaser trailer on Wednesday.
To get fans ready, Akshay has taken a very cool path by teasing facts on the social media site Twitter.
For the last 10 days, Akshay has been using the hashtag #RewindTo1990 to share with fans milestone moments in history — the time period during which the movie has been set — such as:
#RewindTo1990 The beginnings of freedom for East Berlin – Official demolition of the Berlin Wall begins.
#RewindTo1990 Some things never change – Germany won the FIFA World Cup in Italy!
“Sachin Tendulkar’s 1st Century – The Little Master hits his first test ton against England #RewindTo1990”
While fans and the media have been wondering about the motive behind Akshay’s unusual posts, he gave a glimpse into the impetus behind them this weekend when he tweeted: “#RewindTo1990 tensions mount in the Gulf – Iraq deploys troops at the Kuwait border.”
The message was followed by “#RewindTo1990 More than 1,70,000 Indians become homeless refugees virtually overnight. The Gulf War begins #RewindTo1990 Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait.”
With #rewindto1990 trending on social media, Akshay tweeted on Sunday: “As the war escalates, India sends flights to rescue its citizens in Kuwait.#AirliftTeaserOnWednesday”.
And on Monday: “India sets a Guinness world record by safely evacuating more than 170000 people over 59 days#AirliftTeaserOnWednesday”
Check out these pictures and the poster!
We then come to the poster. Now this is what a First Look is ought to be. In one clean and neat stroke, the marketing and promotion of Akshay Kumar’s next film, Airlift, has started on a rollicking note. With a clear indication of what the film is all about, Airlift – which is ‘Based On A True Event’ and something that it proudly demonstrates – has got the message out loud and clear. It clearly conveys that this one is meant to be a no-nonsense affair that won’t beat around the bush, and instead come straight to the point as far as its historical significance and heroic moments is anything to go by.
It is a known fact that an event like this *did* happen 25 years back when India sent chartered flights to rescue its citizens in Kuwait. Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait and more than 1,70,000 Indians had become homeless refugees virtually overnight. This is when a businessman (played by Akshay Kumar) came to the rescue and embarked on a mission that seemed impossible even in thought, leave aside action.
While a lot more of that would be revealed in the film’s teaser that would be out on Wednesday, the poster has done its job well to raise the intrigue quotient. For starters, its structure, tonality and design lend a true blue international appeal to it. Bollywood has so far relied on star power to talk the talk but here, what is notable is that despite a top star like Akshay Kumar in there, it is the film’s logo, the captions that come with it, and an airplane taking off amidst the ruins on the runway that takes centre-stage. Well, literally!
Now this is what clearly conveys the confidence that the makers (Director: Raja Krishna Menon, Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Nikhil Advani) seem to have in the film as they are looking at the content to do the talking. The film is meant to be a nail biting gripping drama with good dose of action in it, and just the First Look poster does convey the message around what to truly expect.
While one is indeed left impressed with the start that Airlift has seen as far as its promotional and marketing campaign is anything to go by, it is apparent that a lot more would be unveiled en route the theatrical release on 22nd January 2016, which would be just apt for Republic Day celebrations on 26th January.
