Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar believes that the story of his upcoming flick Airlift, which is based on the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait war, should be included in the text books of our children.

“This is based on a true story of a man who saved 1, 70, 000 Indians. Every Indian should watch this film. If possible the story should be included in the text books of our children so that they become aware about what an Indian did to save his countrymen,” he said to the media persons while promoting the film in Kolkata.

Akshay’s role is based on a real life person who had played a major role in the evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait war in 1990.

He added, “I would also like to bring to the notice of the media that this film is not only about my character but also about the pilots of the commercial airline Air India who had the guts to get into the war zone and bring all the Indians out from there. What they did is called heroism. Hats off to the pilots of 1990!"

When quizzed about the research he did to step into the shoes of his character, he quipped, “I know the man on whom my character is based. I have spoken to him.”

“And my director has been researching on this subject since the last 3-4 years. He met a lot of people and took the maximum amount of input as possible. Whatever homework had to be done, he had already done it. He made me understand the film and made me meet a lot of people who were struck in that situation.” 

When asked to give his view on how Iraq could react after watching the film, he opined, “The film is not about what Iraq did; the story tells what Indians did to save their people. It is not a war film. We are showing what happened to the Indians and war is the backdrop. The film is showing the state of people struck there.”

The actor said that even though he does different genres of films, he enjoys doing patriotic films the most.

“I like doing different kinds of movies; I did Singh Is Bling, a comedy film; I did Brothers, a film about martial arts. I make it a point to change and test myself through different films. But yes I do enjoy films that speak a lot about the nation and give me a chance to bring the story of the real life heroes in front of the audience.”

Way to go, Akshay!!

 ‘Airlift’, which is directed by Raja Krishna Menon and also stars Nimrat Kaur, is slated to release on 22nd January.