Her life isn't picture-perfect, even if she does look perfect in pictures. Sonam Kapoor is exceptional as Neerja Bhanot, a girl who knows her place and won't back down. He makes for a remarkably effective villain, all growls and snarls, one so consumed with his motives that his fellow terrorists begin to fear him - but he meets his match in one Indian girl. One of these, Khalil, is particularly feral and, played by Jim Sarbh, looks like a bloodthirsty version of Sacha Baron Cohen. In an emotive blend of Dog Day Afternoon and Captain Phillips, Madhvani throws together a savage quartet of terrorists and lets them loose upon an unsuspecting planeful of passengers, most of whom would have been waiting for the drink service to begin. The plane goes from Bombay to Karachi without a hitch, with a Captain Snipes trying out his newly-learnt Hindi on the indulgent passengers.
Most of the film takes place on board Flight 73, and Madhvani grounds the proceedings in detail, making sure everything is right, from period plane to passengers to Palestinians. These minor rough edges smoothen out well in time for take-off. There is also excessive foreshadowing for the tragedy we already know will follow, even though it is handled cleanly enough. The dialogue is a tad clunky, each Rajesh Khanna reference underscored by the word ' babumoshai', as if the man made no other films, Neerja's mom is a touch too overt in her sentimentality, and the background score for the terrorists is thickly ominous and hinting at muezzins - alternated with Neerja reading the Hanuman Chalisa before setting off.
The film opens with shots of Neerja merrymaking with her family, interspersed with shots of Palestinian terrorists preparing for their task, and there is a touch of heaviness at the outset. Madhvani approaches the tale with a cold, even chilling, efficiency, but he takes a while to settle in. The situation - that of being aboard a 1986 flight hijacked in Karachi by a rabid group of violent terrorists - is an impossible, helpless, doomed one, and there is no right answer as to how one ought behave in a situation like that.Īnd yet here we have the strikingly inspirational account of a smart young woman who, when she finds herself flung into a nightmare, chooses to protect rather than cower. Movies about hijacks are usually resolved by force - either mental, by a gifted negotiator, or, as is most often the case, physical, by a superhuman leading man yippee-ki-yaying his way through all odds - but Neerja's story, one worth celebrating, is a triumph of conviction and of spirit. Ram Madhvani's film captures Neerja's effervescence and her professionalism, getting us invested in the character long before we see her take wing and be astonishing, inspirational and incredible in the face of fear. She loved her job, making it up the Pan Am ranks to become a Head Purser before she turned 23.
We meet, instead, Neerja Bhanot: a poised and cool Rajesh Khanna fangirl, a doted-on daughter, a neighbourhood favourite, a young girl who enjoyed smiling for the cameras. Yes, Neerja is in love with life, and we all love her for her spirit.One minute into Neerja, and Sonam Kapoor disappears. Despite the tragic and painful experiences of the characters, they enjoy small things of life. The film opens with Sonam getting off a cab and bidding goodbye to the cabbie with one of Bollywood’s most iconic dialogues: ‘Babumoshai, zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi.’ The under current of this Rajesh Khanna dialogue from Anand (1971) is felt throughout the film. Here’s a list of life-lessons all of us could learn from Neerja. Whatever that may be, the fact is that Ram Madhvani film is also about many things most of us hold close to our heart. Is Neerja the lifeline Sonam needed so badly to sustain her fledgling career in the industry? Will Neerja help Sonam step out now as a bonafide actor who’s got more to her than a famous father and those designer clothes? She’s the new darling of the industry, and why not? Sonam Kapoor’s Neerja, a biopic on the courageous air hostess who sacrificed her life to save 359 passengers on board the hijacked PanAm flight in 1986, opened to a great first day on Friday, and is already being hailed as one of this year’s best, and even the biggest, films.