Akshay Kumar's 'Airlift' hunts for local talent in the UAE

After filming for the critically acclaimed 'Baby' in Abu Dhabi last year, Bollywood's Akshay Kumar will soon return to the UAE to shoot for his upcoming Gulf war thriller, 'Airlift', which also stars 'Homeland' star, Nimrat Kaur.
 
A local casting call will be held in the coming days, with film director Raja Krishna Menon saying in a statement: "We are looking for extras but not 3,000 people [as previously reported in the media]. We have undertaken a normal casting process. We will shoot the film in two parts – the first half in Ras Al Khaimah and the second half in India where the crowd scenes will be filmed."
 
In a Facebook post, local agencies Medulla and 7Media have been cited as stating: "We at ‪Medulla are looking for many extras for an upcoming ‪Akshay Kumar starrer film, which is being shot in March 2015 in Ras Al Khaimah.
 
"The extras description we need is as follows: sub-continental extras male and female adults (260 males 165 females); Indian labourers (1,560); 50 southeast Asians (Filipinos, Chinese, Malays, Indonesians, Japanese, etc); young Pakistani teenaged boys 15-20 years old (625 people); Arabs 25-30 years old (205 people).”
 
The casting call adds: "All shooting will be in Ras Al Khaimah for one month. The payment and dates will be shared shortly on email. Shooting starts March 6, 2015."
 
Those interested have been asked to email details to umair@medullame.com
 
What is 'Airlift' about?
 
Jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar's T-Series along with Cape of Good Films, Crouching Tiger and Emmay Entertainment, 'Airlift' reportedly sees Akshay play the lead role of Ranjit Katyal, a wealthy Indian businessman based in Kuwait.
 
When he and his family are caught in the midst of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Ranjit unwittingly becomes the man who all 170,000 Indians look up to for finding them a safe passage across the border into Jordan.
 
According to trade reports, the film is slated for a January 22, 2016 release.

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