A blockbuster Bollywood film starring action man Akshay Kumar and about the evacuation of more than 170,000 Indians from Kuwait in 1990 has raised the hackles of the Indian government with its portrayal of the country's diplomats as selfish and insensitive.   

So much so that the Indian External Affairs Ministry took the unusual step of issuing a statement on “the movie Airlift”, a fictionalised account of the real-life rescue mission that was released in cinema halls last week to rave reviews.

It shows Indian diplomats leaving Kuwait soon after it was invaded by Iraq under Saddam Hussein that had sparked the first Gulf war and shows the External Affairs ministry as apathetic to desperate pleas of Indian migrant workers stuck there.

The Ministry feels the film is economical with truth. “@AirliftFilm: Great entertainment but rather short on facts,” ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted late on Thursday.

“Films often take liberties with actual events, with facts,” said Swarup -- whose own novel was made into the hit multiple Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire” -- in a recorded video statement.   

“And this particular film has... taken a lot of artistic liberties in the depiction of events as they actually happened in Kuwait in 1990,” he said.

The 1990 rescue mission, which lasted almost two months and required around 500 flights, remains India's biggest air evacuation ever and a source of pride to its diplomatic fraternity.   

“Given Bollywood's hold over the popular imagination, we thought it would be best to recount the facts -- that it  was a stellar team effort of diplomats, bureaucrats, Air India pilots and active citizens in the region that ensured the  biggest evacuation in history,” the official said.

However, the ministry is not keen to press the matter further and Swarup said, “We hope that the film will inspire the people to read about the actual events that took place.”