Raja Krishna Menon couldn't believe it when told by his producers that Akki wanted to hear his story about an air evacuation
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 24, 2015)
Raja Krishna Menon had harboured dreams of making Airlift, the Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur-starrer based on the 1990 Gulf War, for over ten years and took two years to complete the script. Even though he has directed two indie films, Bas Yun Hi (2003) and Barah Aana (2009), Airlift is widely mistaken to be his debut.
"I believe that's happened because it's my first mainstream project, because Akshay Kumar is in it and it is backed by big production houses. I am not a 'serial filmmaker' in the sense that this is my third film in 12 years," Raja reflects, adding that he belongs to the generation of filmmakers who wanted to tell stories differently.
The film is based on the true story of the airlift of 1,70,000 Indians during the invasion of Kuwait. "I really believe that pulling off an evacuation of that magnitude is a heroic mission and it's terrible that many people don't know much about it. Also, the beauty of the whole operation is the sole intent behind it — to get these people back.
With this film, I wanted to showcase that faith exists," he said. "I wasn't there when the producers met Akshay. The ball started rolling from there. But it wasn't difficult to convince Akshay to come on board," Raja reveals, adding that he initially refused to believe the fact that Akki wanted to hear his script. "I was walking my dog when it happened. I thought it was joke. When we narrated the story to him, all he said was, 'let's meet again tomorrow,'" the director reminisces.
"You will see an emotional side to Akshay in the film and witness the brilliant actor that he is," says Raja, adding that a lot of hard work has gone into making the film. "I had got time with Akshay for a month where every morning for three hours, from 5 am, we would do the readings, discuss every nuance of who will this guy be like, how will he deal with a particular scene, etc," he says, informing that along with his crew they researched for six months before going on the sets. "If you walk into my room, it's full of images and videos we spent months collecting. In fact, my entire office looked like a war zone in that sense," he says, adding that there isn't any particular pressure on him as a filmmaker.
Did he and Akshay ever have a clash of ideas? "There were no clashes at all, but there were many discussions on how to approach certain things. Sometimes he came up with pieces of brilliance, which could be little things like the way a certain line is to be said. With Akshay it's been collaborative, there have been times when he disagreed with what I was doing, and I have said let's try it both ways and see the best that comes out of it. So it's been smooth working with him. I don't know the stars, nor do I know the industry so I didn't come with any baggage. However, I knew that it would be hard to handle egos but Akshay doesn't have one," says Raja, who is yet to figure out his next project.
"After Airlift I am going to take a couple of weeks off. I have written so many things, and will now go back and see what I want to do next. But it will be an honest story," he signs off.
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Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; December 24, 2015)
Though Raja Krishna Menon helmed the Purab Kohli and Nandita Das-starrer Bas Yun Hi (2003) and 2009 film Barah Aana starring Naseeruddin Shah and Vijay Raaz, the writer-director often finds himself being asked if he is new to the industry. For the past several years, Menon, who has an advertising background, had been piecing together the story of Airlift, inspired from the real-life drama surrounding the evacuation of Indian expatriates from Kuwait in 1990 when the country was invaded by Iraq. It is regarded as the biggest human evacuation in history, and the director can’t wait for his film, which stars Akshay Kumar in the lead, to reach the audience. hitlist caught him for a brief chat. Excerpts:
You have been around for over a decade, but made only three films...
Because what works for me may not work for others. But now, I feel the market is more receptive to people like me. When Barah Aana released, it was just after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. It was a small film, which travelled to film festivals and got a decent release. Aamir Khan helped a lot behind the scenes, so the film had its journey. For me, a film is a film; I do not know the difference between mainstream and not mainstream. For Airlift, I first narrated the story to co-producer Nikhil Advani through a common friend.
Has being an ad filmmaker earlier helped you now in any way?
When you do ads with stars, the interaction is limited. Stars are under contracts with the companies. I am not sure being an ad film director is a positive thing, at least for me.
What prompted you to tell the story of the human evacuation drama in Kuwait?
I had family members there who were affected. They would keep telling their stories. Then I would meet their friends who would relate their saga. They would show me their family albums and videos; that was the time Kuwait was the wealthiest country in the region. It was only around 2005 that I realised this was a story to be told. My wife’s aunt was an airhostess with Air India back then, so she has given a lot of first-hand information. The film is about knowing what it means to be an Indian, something that the present generation does not know. We are always complaining about things, but what are we doing? We can be the change, but only if we have a positive approach.
How was it working with Akshay Kumar?
He would call me to his house at 5 am for narrations. By 11 am, we would finish off everything and I had a lot of time — the entire day — to concentrate on making the film. Even while shooting in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah in the UAE, morning was always better for him.