Raja, what do you have to say about the charges that you’ve taken too many liberties with facts?
It is baffling! My intention was to show the Indian government in good light. I feel the evacuation process was a great achievement for India. I was greatly moved by the plight of the Indians affected by the Kuwait invasion. I wanted to tell their human and dramatic story to the contemporary generation. For that I had to take liberties with some aspects of the story.
But experts claim there was never a Ranjit Katyal, played by Akshay Kumar?
Ranjit is an amalgamation of several heroes who helped in the rescue operations. We have a big disclaimer in the beginning.
Thanks to you we know about the incident.
That’s 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 up and said, ‘25 years after the incident, someone has given us the credit for what we did.’
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 spreading misinformation?
I respect his opinion. If you speak to Joe Mathews, son of Sunny Mathews (one of the characters on whom Akshay's role is based) he would give a very different picture of how Fabian handled the situation. I don’t want to get into the politics of the crisis.
So the characters are more symbolic than real?
I was interested in the human drama. Katyal represents the heroism during the crisis and Sanjeev Kohli represents Indian democracy. My intentions should not get muddied by nitpicking.
But to be noticed by the bureaucracy and the Indian government shows the film’s impact?
I agree! The fact that my film has connected with the people who were part of the evacuation shows I’ve succeeded. In fact, I was very happy when Vikas Swarup (MEA spokesperson) tweeted saying my film was a good entertainer but had historical inaccuracies. Other than artistic liberties, I don’t think I’ve tried to malign anyone.
Did you expect so much attention for the film?
Not at all. I thought people will ask why I was showing the Indian bureaucracy so heroically. But the opposite happened.
