Film
Airlift
Airlift is a disaster-thriller based on the true 1990 evacuation of Indian workers from Kuwait. It watches like a procedural of urgent logistics and moral reckoning, as a shrewd businessman must navigate geopolitics, bureaucracy, and his own conscience to save lives. Gripping, smartly paced, built for audiences who want their thrills grounded in real stakes.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you are drawn to true-history stories of ordinary people organizing under pressure, where the drama comes from logistics, bargaining and a flawed protagonist slowly changing rather than from explosions.
Skip it if you want a tight, fast thriller; at around two hours it spends long stretches on paperwork, refugee camps and sentimental family beats that slow the momentum considerably.
What it asks of you: Patience with a long middle act of bureaucratic setbacks and crowded scenes, and a willingness to let a rough-edged lead earn your sympathy over the full runtime.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Hotel Rwanda2004
A man of principle faces impossible odds to shelter the vulnerable during genocide. Unflinching about complicity, corruption, and the small acts that become heroic when everything collapses.
But Deeply heavy subject matter. The emotional weight never lets up, and some will find the framing of individual heroism within systemic horror uncomfortable.
Argo2012
A thriller about getting people out during geopolitical chaos, built on real events and sustained tension. Smart dialogue, real stakes, the pleasure of watching a plan come together under pressure.
But The middle act slows down. And if you know the ending already, the mechanics become more visible than the suspense.
The Terminal2004
A man caught between nations, surviving bureaucracy and kindness in liminal space. Spielberg at his most warmly humanist, funny without being flip about displacement and exile.
But Deliberately lighter in tone than the premise suggests. If you want realism over sentiment, this won't deliver it.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Airlift
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Tunnel2016
Both are high-concept procedurals anchored in real disaster, where bureaucracy and human choice collide under literal countdown pressure.
German disaster film about evacuation during a catastrophic accident in an Alpine tunnel. Visceral, propulsive, and utterly indifferent to sentiment. Watches like Airlift's darker European cousin—same logistics, same desperation, no Hollywood compromise.
But Brutal and bleak. People die when the math says they die. If you need emotional catharsis or narrative kindness, this will feel punishing rather than cathartic.
More like this (7)
Moonlight2016
Three acts showing one man across time, intimate and luminous. It trusts the viewer entirely—no exposition, no shortcuts, just the texture of a life lived in the margins.
But Elliptical narrative. Some find its quietness glacial rather than moving. Requires active attention and tolerance for ambiguity.
The Crown2016
Opulent, propulsive drama about duty and power. Claire Foy commands every frame. Season two deepens the show into genuine tragedy—watching Elizabeth choose institution over self.
But The series conflates speculation with fact in ways that annoy historians and those invested in the royal narrative. Ten hours is a commitment.
Philadelphia1993
A lawyer fights the system for a man dying of AIDS. Hanks and Washington are phenomenal. It works as both courtroom drama and character study about prejudice made visible.
But Wears its message openly. Some find the earnestness dated. The ending is predetermined—you watch not to learn the outcome but how we get there.
Bridge of Spies2015
Spielberg's cold-war procedural. Tom Hanks negotiates, investigates, and walks—a man of principle in a world of expedience. Gorgeous cinematography and the pleasure of watching a master work.
But Deliberately paced. Nothing explodes. If you want velocity and action, Spielberg moves at a measured walk here, and some will find that glacial.
Spotlight2015
Reporters dismantle institutional corruption. Ensemble cast, crisp dialogue, the satisfaction of journalism done right. A thriller built on doggedness rather than spectacle.
But Procedural to the point of flatness. No dramatic highs, minimal music. Works if you're invested in the work; feels dry if you're not.
Captain Phillips2013
A merchant vessel hijacked by Somali pirates. Paul Greengrass builds relentless tension from real events. The final act is extraordinary—raw and human rather than heroic.
But Shaky-cam during action sequences will nauseate some. The captain's behavior pre-crisis complicates whether he's a hero or complicit in his own capture.
Medium Cool1969
Both examine men at the center of massive historical events, forced to choose between documentation and action, between watching and doing.
A cameraman covering the 1968 Democratic Convention realizes his detachment is complicity. Shot in real locations during actual protests, it collapses the boundary between cinema and event. Formally inventive and genuinely unsettling about witnessing.
But Fifty-five years old and structurally experimental. Long stretches feel more like documentary than narrative. The politics are urgent but the story is thin, and some will find it dated or didactic.
People
Cast
Akshay KumarRanjit Katyal
Nimrat KaurAmrita Katyal
InaamulhaqMajor Khalaf Bin Zayd
Prakash BelawadiGeorge Kutty
Kumud MishraSanjeev Kohli
Feryna WazheirTasneem
Purab KohliIbrahim Durrani
LenaaDeepti Jayarajan
Ninad KamatKurien
Gunjan MalhotraMeher- Sameer Ali KhanPrince
Nissar KhanAshok
Directing
- Raja MenonDirector
Writing
- Ritesh ShahDialogue
- Amaal MalikMusical
- Raja MenonStory
- Ritesh ShahWriter
- Suresh NairWriter
Production
- Bhushan KumarProducer
- Monisha AdvaniProducer
- Nikkhil AdvaniProducer
- Shivaji DasguptaProducer
Recommended by
Uri: The Surgical Strike, Gabbar Is Back, Shivaay, Paltan, Kaabil, Holiday