What is it like to spend 16 hours trapped in a hijacked plane? What is the anguish of having your daughter come home in a coffin? What is the taste of terror?
In Neerja, director Ram Madhvani recreates the last day in the life of a 23-year-old Pan Am flight purser, who was killed in 1986. The New York bound flight was taken over by Palestinian terrorists when it halted at Karachi. Following protocol, the pilots abandoned the cockpit. Neerja Bhanot, who was on her first flight, as head purser, took charge. She hid American passports and eventually opened the emergency exits. Neerja saved 359 lives. She was shot dead as she huddled children to safety. She was posthumously given awards for her courage by India, Pakistan and America.