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  Life   More Features  22 May 2017  The real-life Airlift hero dies at 81

The real-life Airlift hero dies at 81

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : May 22, 2017, 12:53 am IST
Updated : May 22, 2017, 12:53 am IST

On May 20, the inspirer of Akshay Kumar’s character Ranjit Katyal and the real-life hero of the film, Airlift died at 81 in Kuwait.

Mathunny Mathews
 Mathunny Mathews

The largest civil evacuation in the history of the world wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Mathunny Mathews, aka Sunny or ‘Toyota’ Mathews. The Indian businessman was instrumental in safely bringing home the 1,70,000 Indians stranded in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion in 1990.

On May 20, the inspirer of Akshay Kumar’s character Ranjit Katyal and the real-life hero of the film, Airlift died at 81 in Kuwait. His funeral rites will be held at his hometown Eraviperoor in Kerala.

Akshay, who played a character that amalgamated Mathunny and Harbhajan Vedi tweeted, “Extremely sad news, was an honour to portray him onscreen. Thoughts and prayers with his family.” The director of the film Raja Krishna Menon too joined Akshay by posting, “RIP #SunnyMatthews he played such a huge part in my life another life he impacted positively. (sic)”

Tags: kuwait, mathunny mathews, airlift