Neerja (U)

Director: Ram Madhvani

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravjiani

Running time: 122 minutes

Some stories are so moving that every other tool of filmmaking becomes more and more insignificant as the tale unfolds. Neerja the film’s hijack scenes are weak, the lead performance uneven and the movie straps on the safety belt of sentimentality too soon but Neerja the character’s spirit and strength make up for every pocket of turbulence the film encounters.

And to know that Neerja Bhanot actually walked on this earth and sacrificed her life at the age of 23 for the safety of 350-odd passengers who were complete strangers to her, is like slipping under a warm blanket of humanity at a time when forget caring, even listening to another human being has become such a tall ask in this country.

That is no spoiler. You have been told the events that transpired 30 years ago inside the hijacked Pan Am flight on the Karachi runway in every promotion and marketing gig of the film. But the facts and figures of Neerja — and the emotions they generate — just keep multiplying and magnifying on the big screen.

Here was a young girl who had shrugged off her early personal crisis in life and was just embarking on a high-flying professional career. She was already a senior flight purser plus flourishing far and wide as a model. Nestled back in the love and affection of her parents and supported by a prince charming ready to sweep her off her feet, Neerja had never been happier. 

The film intercuts her happy scenes at home with the four terrorists readying themselves for their mission in Pakistan. They belonged to the Abu Nidal terrorist outfit of Palestine and wanted to free their men in Cyprus. The moment the Pan Am flight is parked on the runaway in transit to Frankfurt and New York, they took over the aircraft but not before Neerja had helped the pilots escape.

The hijackers didn’t have a Plan B and soon resorted to killing passengers. For the next 17 hours, they would wreak havoc inside the plane even as Neerja single-handedly continued to thwart each of their moves.

She was not trying to be a hero; she was doing her job. And that is what the film captures brilliantly. Neerja Bhanot was simply drawing strength from her past wounds. That failed marriage might have been brief but it gave the young woman wings of courage. She might have run away from her abusive husband but she gathered enough strength in that ordeal to stay unruffled with a gun on her head. She might not have stood up for herself one not-so-fine summer but she could take on a bunch of dangerous terrorists to safeguard the lives of an entire plane of helpless passengers. 

Director Ram Madhvani — a big name in the world of ads and he who had made the experimental but enthralling Let’s Talk many years ago — understands the truth of Neerja’s source of grit. He cuts back to her past at just the right points to elucidate how a 23-year-old could be so brave.

But when you have ready templates in films like United 93 and Captain Phillips, the hijack scenes could have been more gripping and the sense of terror inside the craft more acute.

Sonam Kapoor is smartly used by Madhvani, her weaker reactions quickly cut away to terrorist action or better actors. In the one scene she breaks down while reading the love letter, she is fully there in the moment. But you can’t stop thinking where a Deepika Padukone could have taken Neerja. 

Shabana Azmi is so good as the mother you want to reach past the screen and console her. Her stirring speech in the end will move you to tears. The terrorists are well cast. Musician Shekhar Ravjiani is effective in the cameo.
When we see comic book superheroes in latex jumping from rooftops and taking bullets on their chests, our suspension of disbelief is ever so willing. Here despite knowing it’s a true story, Neerja Bhanot’s act of bravery seems totally unbelievable. Sadly she continues to be an exception, not an example.

Pratim D. Gupta
Who would you have cast as Neerja? Tell t2@abp.in