Take Off (2016) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Sameera moved to Iraq because she needed to earn a higher salary to repay the loans taken for her nursing education and to support her family in Kerala. Her family had already borrowed heavily to fund her studies, and the opportunity in Iraq offered significantly better pay than what she could earn in India.

• sameera
• nursing
• iraq
• salary
• loans
• kerala

Sameera's decision to work abroad created deep tension with her husband Faizal and extended family, who strongly opposed her choice. Their disagreements eventually led to divorce, leaving their son Ibrahim in Faizal's care. Shaheed, Sameera's colleague, understood her burdens and proposed marriage to support her through this difficult transition, leading them to marry before leaving for Iraq.

Foreshadowing: Earlier family tensions about Sameera's career choices foreshadowed the eventual breakdown of her marriage.

• sameera
• faizal
• shaheed
• divorce
• marriage
• iraq

Ibrahim ran away because he was devastated to learn that his mother Sameera had remarried Shaheed as his stepfather. When he witnessed pro-ISIS demonstrations and the city descending into riot conditions, he fled his quarters in emotional distress, adding to the dangerous situation already facing the family.

Foreshadowing: Ibrahim's initial resistance to Shaheed earlier in the film made his emotional breakdown during the riots inevitable.

• ibrahim
• riots
• stepfather
• shaheed
• tikrit

Shaheed joined the Army medical team to help with the wounded soldiers while also hoping that his absence would give Ibrahim time to adjust to him as his stepfather. Shaheed believed the mission would be brief and safer since it was supported by military forces, but the situation in Mosul deteriorated rapidly when ISIS captured the city.

Foreshadowing: This decision directly led to Shaheed's capture by ISIS, which became the catalyst for Sameera's desperate rescue efforts.

• shaheed
• mosul
• army
• medical team
• isis

With no direct diplomatic channel to ISIS, the Indian government enlisted businessman Jayamohan from the Crescent Group to broker an informal deal through Saudi-connected contacts. A secret arrangement was made that moved the nurses toward Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, where India took custody and organized a special flight to bring them home to Cochin.

• rescue
• nurses
• isis
• erbil
• jayamohan
• diplomacy

Jayamohan negotiated with a figure named Sheikh Salman, who had connections to powerful Saudi individuals, to arrange an informal deal with ISIS. This covert arrangement allowed the nurses to be transferred from ISIS control to Indian authorities in Erbil. The exact terms were never disclosed publicly, and the documents revealing the deal were destroyed at the end.

• secret deal
• isis
• jayamohan
• sheikh salman
• negotiation

The Indian embassy advised the nurses to conceal their identities and adopt Muslim practices, including prayer routines, to avoid being targeted for harm by ISIS militants. This was a survival measure to blend in and prevent religious-based persecution during their captivity in Tikrit.

• identity
• muslim
• disguise
• embassy
• survival
• tikrit

After the medical team was captured when Mosul fell to ISIS, Shaheed was held as a captive alongside other wounded fighters. A doctor was killed for resisting ISIS demands, while Shaheed risked his life treating wounded ISIS fighters. Sameera persistently searched for him among the captives and successfully located him before the group was moved to Kurdistan for rescue.

• shaheed
• capture
• mosul
• wounded
• rescue

Jayamohan destroyed the documents revealing the unofficial deal between India and ISIS to keep the arrangement classified. The ending underscores how such covert diplomatic actions are often kept confidential due to their political sensitivity, highlighting the moral compromises required to secure the nurses' release.

• documents
• destroyed
• jayamohan
• classified
• diplomacy
• secret

Sameera used a covert satellite phone to maintain contact with the Indian Embassy's Crisis Command Center and actively searched for Shaheed throughout their captivity. Her persistence paid off when she located him among the ISIS captives, allowing him to be included in the rescue operation before the group was transferred to Kurdistan.

• sameera
• shaheed
• search
• satellite phone
• captives
• rescue

The hospital manager in Tikrit was killed by ISIS militants for refusing to comply with their demands. His death marked a turning point that forced the group of nurses deeper into danger and captivity, as they lost the protection of a senior hospital administrator.

• hospital manager
• killed
• tikrit
• isis
• compliance

Sameera discovered she was pregnant while in Iraq but chose to keep the news hidden from Ibrahim, who was planning to visit her. This was likely to prevent adding more emotional stress to an already dangerous situation, especially given the unstable environment caused by the escalating conflict.

• pregnancy
• sameera
• ibrahim
• hidden
• stress