Often we find Bollywood cashing in on the safer bets like action and romance in order to prevent the chances of any loss by daring to try anything out of the box. However 2016 has witnessed the release of two marvel of a film based on a true event which surprisingly turned out to be a major hit. After Akshay Kumar’s Airlift based on the Kuwait evacuation, here comes Neerja, the story of a 22 year old girl who prevented a massive hijack and thus saved more than 300 passengers single handedly.
After a much created hype, I decided to watch the movie and when I did, it is pretty tough to refrain myself from not complementing the brilliant cinematography that the makers have come up with because not every time we get such films with immense depth in Bollywood. Let me brief out the movie for you all:
Story of Neerja – Neerja is the story of a flight attendant named Neerja Bhanot who stopped the hijack of the Pan AM 73 by a group of terrorists in Karachi. She prevented the plane to take off and thus saved near about 360 passengers in the process. As gripping as the story sounds, so does the movie reveal. It is one of the most thrilling movies I have watched recently.
Performance – Neerja stars Sonam Kapoor in the lead. After having delivered some not very praise-worthy movies, Sonam Kapoor comes as a shocker with this movie. I mean she is just fabulous, be it portraying a carefree and fun-loving 22 year old girl to a conscious citizen trying to save the hostages, each of it is carried by her brilliantly. She is the star of Neerja and though I didn’t quite appreciate her earlier, after watching Neerja, I am all praise for her. Shabana Azmi as Sonam’s mother is natural with her character. Tikku is also good with the tragic expressions which leave me wet eyed.
Songs – Though the film has songs which are not that musical, I think they could have been avoided because of the subject of the film which really didn’t require them. The musical department was good though for the background score was catchy and thrilling which made up for a better watch.
Direction – There are a very few directors which live up to the mark when such a serious subject based on a true event is undertaken. Neerja films director shines right from the onset of the film to the ending credit. Director Ram Madhvani gives us a very engrossing outcome from a brilliantly executed script.
Scenes to watch out for in the movie – There are three scenes in the movie that made me literally burst out into tears and cry like there was no one and I would have in case I was watching it alone.
1.) Neerja’s fight to protect the passengers – There is a scene where Neerja and all the hostages are equally clueless about what to do next. Neerja comes up with a quick thought and suggests everyone to hide their US passport. The scenes depict how panicking a situation as such be and is really executed well.
2.) Neerja’s death – This is the most disheartening scene in the movie. The moment she is shot and her fight ends, I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks.
3.) After death effect – Neerja’s father and mother in the film have done a near to brilliant portrayal of what can be done after such a tragedy which kind of made my heart beat faster.
All I have to say is, Go and watch it. Or you are surely missing a gem.