After making waves at the box office, Crew is all set for its OTT release. Directed by Rajesh A Krishnan, Crew is made under the banner of Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms. Crew will be available for streaming on Jio Cinema from May 24, 2024. Crew is inspired by the true story of Indian fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya who was the owner of Kingfisher airline.
Talking about Crew's character's guide, it features Tabu as Geeta Sethi, a flight attendant, Kareena Kapoor Khan as Jasmine Kohli, a flight attendant, Kriti Sanon as Divya Rana, a flight attendant, Diljit Dosanjh as Customs officer Jaiveer Singh, Kapil Sharma as Arun Sethi, Rajesh Sharma as Pruthviraj Mittal, H.R. Head, HRD, Kohinoor Airlines, Saswata Chatterjee as Vijay Walia, Chairman & MD, Kohinoor Airlines, Garima Yajnik as Ayesha Walia, Vijay's daughter and more in the leading roles. Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop News assumes that you have already watched Crew and are wondering about real-life Vijay Walia, Chairman & MD, Kohinoor Airlines. Below is all all about Vijay Walia-
Who is real-life Vijay Walia?
The answer is Vijay Mallya. Crew is loosely based on the true story of Kingfisher Fiasco. The makers of the movie have drawn its parallel from the Kingfisher airlines. Crew showcases Mallya's famous ‘gift packs’ and ‘welcome videos’, and dresses its on-screen stewardesses in Kingfisher-like red uniforms. A media portal quoted a source in the known development saying, "The plot was inspired by Mallya’s bankruptcy. In the film Tabbu, Kareena Kapoor, and Kriti Sanon play three air hostesses who aren’t drawing any pay from their workplace and decide to make money on the side. The director wanted actually to call out the airline owner by his real name. But due to legal implications, he dropped the idea.”
Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher's bankruptcy
Till 2011, Kingfisher Airlines had the second-largest share of India’s domestic market, and boasted an international network reaching as far as London (LHR) and Hong Kong (HKG). However, one year later, Kingfisher Airlines went bankrupt. Multiple reasons contributed to Kingfisher Airlines' bankruptcy. As per reports, Kingfisher expanded rapidly and aggressively, acquiring a large fleet of aircraft and launching international routes, but struggled with mounting debt and operational losses. Financial mismanagement, including high operating costs, heavy debt burdens, and an inability to secure additional financing, severely strained the airline's financial health.
At its peak, Kingfisher Airlines had a fleet of 69 aircraft, the bulk of which belonged to the A320 family. Due to its continuous expansion, Kingfisher Airlines' loan or debt was heavily increasing. However, Mallya and his team did nothing to save it. Instead, Mallya continued his luxurious lifestyle buying IPL team RCB and even throwing lavish parties.
On October 20th, 2012, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended the airline's license. It limped on in a state of bankruptcy until finally, on March 2nd, 2016, the consortium of banks moved to recover its dues, which included a sum of Rs 9,000 crore ($1.26bn) owed by Mallya himself.