Riva Animation & VFX, the studio which has delivered stunning visuals for movies like PK, Baby, ABCD2 and many more in the recent past, is all set to raise the bar once again with its latest work in the Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Airlift’.
A co-production of – T-Series, Hari Om Entertainment, Emmay Entertainment, Cape Of Good Films and Abundantia Entertainment – ‘Airlift’ is set to hit screens early next year on 22 January and is the third directorial venture of Raja Krishna Menon, the earlier outings being the critically acclaimed Bas Yun Hi and Barah Aana.
The story is reportedly based on true events dating back to the Iraq-Kuwait War of 1990, which witnessed the biggest evacuation of Indians from a country under war. The teaser begins with Akshay Kumar giving a background to his journey, saying ‘Mera naam Ranjit Katyal’…
What ensues next is how in the year 1990 all hell breaks lose with war being declared by Iraq on Kuwait and nearly 1,70,000 Indian citizens’ lives endangered. The only hope for them was for their homeland to carry out the most dangerous rescue mission in the country’s history.
From the looks of it, the trailer does showcase quite a lot of visual effects being used to recreate the war of 1990 digitally, and that is one area which Riva specialises in. The Principal photography of the film started back in February 2015 and the first schedule of the film was reportedly shot in Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates in early March 2015. The sets were then re-created and digitally enhanced to depict how Kuwait looked during 1990. The second schedule of the film will soon be shot in Rajasthan, India.
The VFX supervisor on the project is Viral Thakkar, who is an experienced hand and has been a supervisor on numerous projects earlier. The DI for the feature is being handled by the Mumbai-based After Studios. The trailer certainly holds much promise and reminds one of the recent action flicks that ‘Action Kumar’ has been doing like ‘Holiday’ and ‘Baby’. Only time will tell if director Raja Krishna Menon will taste his first mainstream success with this venture.
