Raja Krishna Menon's 2016 drama Airlift is one of the most celebrated films of Hindi cinema. In fact, it is also considered as one of the best films of actor Akshay Kumar, marking a milestone in his career. However, did you know that Irrfan Khan was supposed to star in the thriller's lead role initially? On the late actor's birth anniversary, we go back in time when the film's producer Nikkhil Advani revealed that he was reluctant to cast the Khiladi actor and wanted to star Irrfan instead. However, the latter believed that the producer might get a bigger budget to make the film if Akshay featured in it. While talking to Galatta Plus in an interview, Nikkhil recalled the instance and said, "Airlift’s director Raja Menon wanted Irrfan, which was fine for us because he was working on D-Day. I told them I would set up the meeting with Irrfan, and Irrfan overheard me. He told me, ‘Boss, mere sath mat kar ye picture (Don’t do this film with me). It is a fantastic film but don’t do it with me because you will not get the budget. Go to Akshay. You know Akshay.'" ALSO READ | Irrfan Khan asked me to take him to India-Pak border, wanted to fly a kite there, recalls Shashank Arora: ‘The terrified producer said…’ After hearing about Airlift, Akshay was insistent about starring in it and even participated in the several workshops that Raja organised. Nikkhil further added, "So, I went to Akshay with another film, and he called that rubbish. Then I narrated Airlift and told him that Irrfan didn’t want to do it. He asked me, ‘Why have you come to me then?’ I told him, ‘You can’t do it because it is a very serious film and you will have to memorise all the lines, and the director Raja Menon wants to do workshops.’ He told me that he wanted to do it. I told him Raja doesn’t want you, but Akshay did the film. He sat for workshops after workshops." Airlift was based on the true events of Iraq's invasion over Kuwait in August 1990. Akshay Kumar played the role of a callous Indian businessman who became the spokesperson for over 170,000 stranded countrymen. Along with the actor, it also starred Nimrat Kaur, Kumud Mishra, Prakash Belawadi, Inaamulhaq, and Lenaa in pivotal roles. It was praised by the critics and audiences, and was a commercial success.
