Man who inspired Akshay Kumar's film 'Airlift' dies in Kuwait

Matthunny Mathews Pic from Facebook

Prominent Indian businessman, Matthunny Mathews, who was instrumental in the safe evacuation of stranded Indians during the Iraqi invasion in 1990, passed away in Kuwait.

81-year-old Mathews, who hailed from Kumbanad in Pathnamthitta district, was ailing for some time and passed away yesterday, media reports here said.

Expressing his condolence, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said yesterday that during the 1990 Gulf war Mathews had helped thousands of Indians flee the gulf nation and his services would always be remembered.

Akshay Kumar in Airlift

By not taking efforts to save his own life and property, Mathews had done yeoman service to bring his countrymen, who had lost everything in the war, safely back, Vijayan said.

The V P Singh government had in 1990 carried out the biggest evacuation during the gulf war when over 1.50 lakh Indians had been safely brought back by flight. At that time Mathews had functioned as the Central Government's "unofficial representative" in Kuwait to coordinate the evacuation process, the Chief Minister said. Popularly known as 'Toyota Sunny', Mathunny Mathews was said to be the inspiration for Akshay Kumar's character in the film 'Airlift'. Mathews, left for Kuwait in 1956 at the age of 20 in search of a job. He joined as a typist in the Toyota company and rose to become its Managing Director in 1989.

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