NEERJA

The touching story of Neerja Bhanot, who died while saving the lives of others, is full of tears and heartbreak.

 

A movie made on a real person comes with its own baggage and on occasions, filmmakers are often curious to make their heroes larger-than-life, which sometimes results in adding an element of unrealism to the story.

 

But, once in a while comes a movie, which excels at realism and also brings a lump to everybody's throat and Ram Madhwani's Neerja is surely one such film, which will be named in such a list of movies.

 

Based on the life of Neerja Bhanot, a flight purser with Pan Am, who sacrificed her life to protect her passengers from armed terrorists during the 1986 Pan Am hijack crisis, 'Neerja' is simply one of this year's best movies so far.

 

The movie is set on September 5, 1986, when the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73 takes off from then-Bombay. Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor), flying as chief purser for the first time, is readying for her morning flight while four terrorists affiliated to Palestine’s Abu Nidal Organisation are offering their last prayer in Lyari, Karachi. (Lyari is still one of the most dreaded places in the South Asia region.)

 

The terrorists manage to board the flight with their ammunition, but the full extent of their plan is reduced when Neerja alerts the pilots, who run away. The real trouble then becomes the boarding zone where 360 passengers are left at the mercy of some trigger happy cynics.

 

Here is where an ordinary model-turned-air hostess rises to the occasion and the rest is history.

 

Starring Sonam Kapoor in the lead role, the movie takes us on a journey through Neerja's private life and her act of bravery, which immortalized her in the eyes of all those who knew her.

 

Neerja, a model-turned-airhostess boards on her first flight as a head purser and when the Mumbai-Karachi-USA flight gets hijacked by terrorists from the Abu Nidal organization, who want to use the hostages to secure the freedom of their imprisoned comrades, Neerja and her team of fearless aircraft staff are the only ones to stand between the hijackers and innocent passengers.

 

How Neerja motivates her team to do their duty and sacrifices her life in the process is what the movie deals with.

 

Sonam Kapoor has effortlessly given the top performance of her career in this movie and the actress manages to bring Neerja to life with her acting. Undeniably, it is a treat to watch Sonam put her heart and soul in the character. Her love for her family, her insistence on doing her duty in the face of danger and her real fear, which helps her find courage, is quite real and touching. Shabana Azmi as Neerja's mother Rama Bhanot too does a great job and so does Yogendra Tiku, who plays Neerja's dad Harish Bhanot. The supporting cast too has given their best to a movie, which deserved nothing less.

 

As for the direction, Ram Madhwani, who comes back to movie direction after the 2002 film Let's Talk, has done a praiseworthy job. Madhwani has not concentrated only on the hijack drama, but has also offered glimpses of Neerja's private life, which makes the narrative more relevant. The section of the movie once the plane is hijacked is taut, inspiring and terrific and will keep you hooked to the screen. The story reveals so wonderfully that you end up rooting for Neerja's life, despite the knowledge of her death. The realistic way the movie has been shot and presented too works in its favour as there are no pointless scenes or over-the-top dialogues or melodrama.

 

NEERJA is a must watch film of the youngest recipient of the highest civilian honour Ashok Chakra for showing extraordinary courage and human kindness. It is a movie that will make you stand up for what's genuinely Right without concerning about nationality, religion, sex, cast or colour of the skin.

 

Overall, Neerja is a praiseworthy to watch once for its cinematic value and Neerja's courageous spirit.