Neerja Movie Review

Neerja is one of the most keenly-awaited films of the year. It’s a biographical on the life of flight-attendant Neerja Bhanot, who fought bravely for the lives of passengers on-board a hijacked plane. Directed by Ram Madhavani, the film stars Sonam Kapoor playing the role of Neerja.

Story: Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor), a big fan of Bollywood’s first superstar Rajesh Khanna, is a air hostess cum model. She is the senior flight-attendant on Pan Am Flight 73 flying from Mumbai to the United States of America. The flight was hijacked by four men at the Karachi airport in Pakistan. The aircraft was carrying 361 passengers and 19 crew members. Neerja bravely defended the passengers, ensured the failure of the hijacking by preventing the plane from getting off the ground and she also saved innocent lives. Tragically, she was shot dead.

The story of Neerja is about bravery, about putting her own life in danger for the safety of others, her quick mind and her dedication for her job.

Review: With Neerja, director Ram Madhavani gives us a film that is grim and hard-hitting, real and terrifying. Neerja is not a film that you watch for entertainment, it’s a depressing watch because a story where a 23 year old sacrifices her life to defend passengers on board her plane, is deeply tragic and heart-wrenching. The pacing of the 2-hour long film is just right, giving the audience enough time to both digest the proceedings and get involved in the narrative.

Neerja doesn’t have unnecessary scenes. The bond between Neerja’s mother (played by Shabana Azmi) and her daughter (Sonam) has been shown beautifully. The attention to detail is terrific as the incident took place in the mid-80s. Everything from the look of the characters to the interiors of the plane is spot on.

In short, Madhavani gets almost everything right with Neerja. You can’t ask for more when the audience gives a standing ovation to a film when the closing credits role. It’s a lesson on how biopics or real life stories should be handled. The last few minutes of the film, though, could have been better. It does come across as a little hurried.

The director has also been able to extract terrific performances out of his cast. Sonam Kapoor delivers by far the best performance of her career. She is brilliant. When filming with so many people, it’s difficult to ensure every passenger on the flight delivers the right expressions. Thankfully, everyone plays their respective parts well, including the terrorists. Shabana Azmi is fantastic. Yogendra Tiku is outstanding. Shekhar Ravjiani does well too.

Overall, Neerja is a film for those who don’t just crave for entertainment on the big screen, but also want to watch a hard-hitting film based on a real-life incident. Neerja is also a tribute to the many forgotten heroes we have / have had in our great country.

Rating: A must watch

What we liked:

• The story of Neerja
• Sonam Kapoor
• Outstanding performances
• Ram Madhavani’s direction
• Tribute to a forgotten Indian hero and many like her.
• Attention to detail as far as the sets and costumes are concerned

What we didn’t like

• The story is depressing and hard-hitting, not for everyone.