Hi, I have very high fever, which is why I am not going to hug. I don’t want to infect you,” Sonam Kapoor says between hacking coughs. The 30-year-old leggy stunner is sitting in her suite at Taj Lands End in Bandra with her back towards the expansive sea and is dressed in a flouncy Eshaani Jayaswal ‘Iron Fairies’ skirt with a diamond-studded necklace as a hair accessory. 

“It’s really unfair that you look this stunning when you are sick,” we say and sit as far away from her without being rude. Sonam laughs as she says: “I didn’t wake up looking like this! It takes a village for me to look like this!” Now that that’s clarified, it’s time to talk about her next —  Friday film Neerja. In the biopic, Sonam plays the slain air hostess Neerja Bhanot, who was shot dead fighting hijackers on Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986. Neerja, then 23, is India’s youngest recipient of the highest national bravery award — the Ashoka Chakra. 

What struck you first about Neerja’s character?
She was an ordinary girl. It’s not like she decided that she needed to be brave. It just came from within her… that’s real bravery for me, because when you are scared, it is your family values, sense of duty, principles and morals that make you what you are.

Neerja’s father was a journalist and her mother a homemaker. She studied at St. Xavier’s College. She wanted to be an air hostess and then started modelling. So, she was like any 23-year-old with dreams and aspirations. She wasn’t a trained military person or superhero material. She was a regular girl who saved 359 lives! Her story is so incredible that when I heard it the first time, I knew I wanted to do it. 

The more we hear the cast and crew talk about this film, it sounds like this was meant to be... 
It is. It’s almost like Neerja wanted us to make the film. Nothing in this film was premeditated. It all just happened so organically. This film is blessed. 

What is your memory of the first time you met Neerja’s mother Rama Bhanot?
About six months after I had okayed the film, I was going to Chandigarh for a Tommy Hilfiger event. The script wasn’t ready at that point but Ram (Madhvani, the film’s director) was keen that I meet the family. They had said okay in principle but they still needed to meet me. 

I remember walking into this two-storeyed home and Rama Aunty was on the second floor. It was almost like a shrine to Neerja. There were photographs of her everywhere and Rama Aunty looked at me and said, ‘Tu toh Laado hai’. I think 
she said that out of kindness because she must have realised that I was nervous. That kindness is something that I will never forget.

I flourish with even a little bit of love. I can do anything for anybody who loves me. If someone is unkind to me, I go into a shell and become defensive… I am almost like an animal when it comes to that.

Every character leaves a mark on the actor. Has Neerja changed you?
You are right… every character does leave a mark. And this is a big reason for the kind of films and roles I do. With every film I do, the environments are so different, the characters and the directors. It just helps me hone my craft and become a better actor. 

One of the reasons why I decided to do this film was because Neerja was so principled. She stood for being honest and doing her duty, no matter what. It’s not like she wasn’t scared but she rose above her fear and that speaks a lot about human spirit and her character. 

Neerja must have been both physically and emotionally taxing for you.... 
Yes, it was. I am going to take a break after this film. I had taken a long break after Raanjhanaa (2013) and this film has been just as exhausting. While it was taxing, Neerja was also cathartic in a way. I was doing the film for a reason. I wanted to get the story out for the people. And eventually, we got to leave the plane... people involved in that flight, didn’t. We had a responsibility to those people. 

[Sonam’s phone rings. It’s Anupam Kher. She wants to know when he is watching Neerja. He complains how no one tells him anything. Plans are made for dinner at the Kapoors. ‘I am sick but I’ll come down and say hello,’ she promises. After a few laughs and ‘You are being silly, Anupam uncle’, Sonam hangs up.] 

Sorry, where were we?

We were talking about how exhausting this film was... 
In a word: very. We were doing 16-hour days. Ram was shooting the film in a way that even if you were hurt, you couldn’t call for cut. You just continued shooting. And we had many untrained actors, so if they were hitting you, they are really hitting. I had a split lip, bruises and I hurt both my knees and back. If I was crying, Ram wanted me to hold the emotion… so there was no cut. There was so much to memorise. 

When we were shooting the actual hijack sequence, we had four cameras and except for the actors, everyone was outside. So it was almost like a play that was happening and at the same time, we had to follow a script. It was tough. 

This shoot sounds like nothing you would have done before…
I don’t think anyone has shot a film like this before! (Laughs)

What was it like working with Ram Madhvani?
I love preparing and I am very meticulous and so is he. So, there was never any argument about working hard. He told me: ‘I am pushing you, it’s up to you to land’. This film was tough to shoot, but it never felt like hard work. He’s obviously seen my films, and he told me that in many film, I am on one sur and everyone else is on another. He said I looked out of place because I was doing my own style of acting and that it’s very arrogant of me. I agree with him. I have always believed in doing what I thought was right for the role. I don’t believe in over-emphasising or enunciating. I believe in keeping things real. I don’t want to look like I am acting... my dad (Anil Kapoor) and Aanand Sir (Rai, who directed Sonam in Raanjhanaa) had told me the same thing. 

I used to beg my directors to do workshops. Shashanka (Ghosh), (Rakeysh Omprakash) Mehra and Aanand Sir are the directors I have done my best work with and they are the directors who have insisted on workshops. Whether we were making a Khoobsurat or Raanjhanaa, workshops are always a help. 

Shabana Azmi, who plays your mother, has told t2 that she sees Neerja as a hallmark film in your career... 
(Smiles) Well, I want you to know that Shabana Azmi is very biased about me. People like Anupam Kher and Shabana Azmi, who have seen me grow up, think I am special. I keep trying to tell them that the world doesn’t think like them and they get offended! (Laughs) Just because I have grown up in front of them, they think I am this perfect princess. I keep telling them that I am not! 

I remember Kirron Aunty (Kher) calling me after Khoobsurat asking how I had done some scene so brilliantly… and I couldn’t get what she was raving so much about. I used to write really bad poetry as a teenager and take it to Javed uncle 
(Akhtar). He used to tell me everything was outstanding (laughs). Now when I read those poems, I cringe! So imagine what would happen if I took all of them seriously!

They all clearly love you a lot...
Yes, which is really really sweet. This is high praise coming from Shabana Azmi. When I was a kid and wanted to learn dancing, it was Shabana aunty who made sure that  I enrolled for Kathak and ballet classes. At 17, I was a shy nerd. I had got into some of the best schools in London and my parents wanted me to go and study there. I refused because I wanted to act. My parents had a heart attack.
 
Before this point, no one knew that I wanted to act. They all thought that (sister) Rhea or (brother) Harsh would be actors. They couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to go to college. Dad sent me to Shabana aunty so she could persuade me to go to college. Instead, she encouraged me to act. She told me not to listen to my parents. My father was so mad at her! (Laughs)

We have to ask about the Coldplay video and the minuscule screen time you got...

Only a Coldplay fan will understand why I did the video (Hymn For The Weekend, shot in Mumbai). I was advised against doing it, but really I didn’t care. It was Chris Martin and Beyonce! I was 15 when I started listening to their music. It was just two hours of my time. To begin with, I couldn’t even believe that they wanted me in the video! Can you even believe my shock when I realised that Coldplay had heard of me?! I was like dying!!! 

People forget that I am like any regular girl. Just because I am a celebrity doesn’t mean that I am not a fan. If you ask any girl on the street if they will be in a Coldplay video for a second, they’d jump at the opportunity. Being a part of this 
video was an ode to my 16-year-old self who would listen to Yellow on repeat. 

Finally, you don’t have a film after Neerja... what’s going on?!
I haven’t signed anything. So I don’t know what I want to do next. I know I want some time off after this film but I don’t know if it’s going to be a two-month break or a two-year one. Let’s see….

Karishma Upadhyay
Will Neerja be a game changer for Sonam Kapoor? Tell t2@abp.in