Superstar Akshay Kumar says that the story of massive evacuation of Indians from invaded Kuwait in 1990 on which his upcoming film “Airlift” is based should be in textbooks.
“If you browse through World Guinness Book of Records, the biggest air evacuation was done by our beloved country, India. And this is why I selected to do this subject as I wanted to bring it in front of everybody,” said Akshay at the Vaayu festival of NMIMS College here.
“I’ve always made a request that this big chapter should be there in our textbooks; It’s a very important chapter. We all know what Shah Jahan and Akbar did, but at least write what we (Indians) have done,” he said.
“This is a real story of what happened to 1,70,000 Indians staying in Kuwait when (then iraqi dictator) Saddaam Hussein had attacked Kuwait in 1990 and they (Indians) didn’t know where to go, what to do. These kinds of things have been hidden and there are political reasons why it was hidden,” added Akshay.
The story of the film is from the point of view of Akshay’s character who helped those Indians get airlifted from Kuwait. As the poster of the film suggests – 1,70,00 refugees, 488 flights, 59 days and one man.
“It’s a very special movie. Do go and watch the film and you’ll feel proud to be an Indian,” he said.
The film’s hard-hitting teaserhas already grossed over 5 million views on Youtube.