Real 'Airlift' Hero Mathunny Matthews Passes Away: Akshay Kumar Pays Tribute On Twitter

In the critically acclaimed film Airlift, Akshay Kumar had played businessman Ranjit Katyal, who organizes the mass evacuation of over 1 lakh Indians stuck in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion but few people know that Katyal was partly based on Mathunny Matthews, who was the actual hero of the story.

We have learned that Matthews breathed his last a couple of days back at his house in Kuwait and taking to Twitter, Akshay wrote, ''''Extremely sad news, was an honour to portray him onscreen. Thoughts and prayers with his family.'' On his part, producer Nikkhil Advani wrote, ''The real #RanjitKatiyal lost his battle with ALS last night. 1,70,000 families pray for you.''

Ranjit Katyal, the character played by Akshay Kumar in Airlift, was said to be a combination of Mathunny Mathews and an Indian businessman Harbhajan Singh Bedi, by the film's makers.