Airlift.

I distinctly remember the situation in 1990 when around 170000 Indians were stranded in Kuwait during invasion by Iraqi forces and the subsequent embargo imposed by the UN. I myself had just gone through a difficult transition in my career and location and this development where some friends of mine were stuck in Kuwait had me fretting and fuming about the games being played with innocent lives caught in a problem of not their making.

I was looking forward to seeing this film and today when Ramesh offered to come too, I went for a matinee show and came away from the experience feeling very proud to be an Indian. The story is based on a real story with two real life intrepid characters and some remarkable background work by a courageous and concerned bureaucrat. Pilots of the Air India, Indian Airlines and the Indian Air Force performed heroically too. A total of about 110,000 people were evacuated from Amman to Mumbai – a distance of about  4,200 km, by operating 488 flights in association with Indian Airlines, from 13 August to 11 October 1990 – lasting 59 days.

You can find the details of the film from the link to Wikipedia that I have given above. My own rating for the film is a 5/5 for remarkable acting by all the cast, excellent direction and top notch editing. A very gripping story told with remarkable skill and one can almost share the emotions throughout the film. If you are interested in a human interest story of such magnitude and heroism, do spare the 125 minutes to watch the film. You will not regret it.