Actor Inaamulhaq, who played a Pakistani in the National Award winning movie Filmistaan will now be seen playing an Iraqi in Akshay Kumar starrer Airlift, which releases tomorrow. Inaamulhaq plays a very essential role of an Iraqi Major Kahalf Bin Zayd who is the main antagonist of the evacuation that the film is based on.

Ask Inaamulhaq what made him sign Airlift and he says, " After Filmistaan, I had great expectations from myself. I have heard this somewhere that if your second film isn't better than the debut, then your first film's success is considered a fluke. I kept this line in mind while going through film scripts. But when I got Airlift, I felt that this should be my second film."

He adds, "Airlift means a lot to me. Every actor is his own critic and we all know from within what works and what doesn't. I trust myself and the film and I know that this film will not disappoint. I am very grateful to Director Raja Menon, Emmay Entertainment and T-Series who had the faith in me and trusted me to handle this big responsibility."

Given that his first film was critically acclaimed, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to get his second movie. Probe him how did he bag Airlift and Inaamulhaq reveals, "Raja Menon, director of Airlift, praised me for Filmistaan, and had told me that whenever he makes a film, he will cast me in it. So when Airlift happened, Raja called me for the audition. But Akshay was in the favour of casting an Iraqi to get authenticity for the role. However, Raja convinced Akshay to check out my audition tape, which he did. After watching the tape, Akshay didn't want anyone else to be cast in that role other than me."

Quiz Inaamulhaq on his experience of working with Akshay Kumar and he admits, "It was great to work with Akshay Kumar. He doesn't have those starry airs about himself and doesn't let his aura fall on his fellow co-stars. He broke the ice between us and made me comfortable on day one itself. I am really grateful to him for all the co-operation and support."