Director Raja Menon says he wanted to create sense of pride with Airlift

Raja, what do you have to say about those experts who feel you’ve taken too many liberties with facts?
It is baffling! My intention was to show the Indian government in a good light. I feel the whole evacuation process was a great achievement for India. I wanted to celebrate that achievement. I was greatly moved by the plight of the Indians who were affected by the invasion of Kuwait. I wanted to tell their story. I wanted to tell a human story, a dramatic story for the contemporary generations to connect with the facts.

But experts claim there was never a Ranjit Katyal, played by Akshay Kumar?
I have always said Ranjit is an amalgamation of several heroes who helped in the rescue operations. In fact we have a big disclaimer in the beginning . I have not made a documentary on the 1990 evacuation in Kuwait. I have not documented history. I have only documented the drama behind the story.

Thanks to you we know about the incident?
That’s precisely why I needed to make this film. My moment of triumph was when Michael Mascrenhas who headed the Air India rescue operations in Kuwait, called me when the controversies regarding factual liberties broke out.He said, ‘I believe 25 years after the incident, someone, a filmmaker has given us the credit for what we did.’ I feel when you come out of the woodwork to make accusations about factual inaccuracy, you are missing the larger picture.

K.P. Fabian, Joint Secretary, Gulf division of the MEA, at the time of the First Gulf War during 1990-’91 has accused the film of trivialising the issue and spreading misinformation?
Even his statements are being questioned. But I respect his opinion. All of us have telescoped opinions of what happened at a certain point in history. But if you speak to Joe Mathews who is the son of Sunny Mathews (one of the characters on whom Akhay’s Ranjit Katyal is based) he would give you a very different picture of how Mr Fabian handled the situation.

So the characters are more symbolic than real?
Like I said I was, and I am, interested in the human drama. And RanjitKatyal represents the heroism of the crisis while Sanjeev Kohli (played by Kumud Mishra) represents the Indian democracy. I wanted today’s young India to feel a sense of pride about what India and Indians achieved during a time when they weren’t even born. My intentions should not get muddied by nitpicking.
But to be noticed by the bureaucracy and the Indian government shows the film’s impact.