WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Life is fragile. Every day we arise to face a world that is uncertain. We may have freedoms, we may have the relative safety of living where conflict is not a daily occurrence, or at least not in any life-threatening way. Yes, life is fragile. It can be taken at any time or put in peril in a case of unfortunate circumstance. Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor) is enjoying arrival at home in Mumbai. Relaxing to a gathering of family and friends, she is vibrant, beautiful, and loving her life. It is a short stay, however, as a job being the head purser on a passenger plane to Karachi, Frankfurt, and New York awaits, much to the mixed reactions of her mother Rama (Shabana Azmi), father Harish (Yogendra Tikku) and close friend Jaideep (Shekhar Ravjiani).
Undeterred, Neerja embarks aboard Pan Am Flight 73 and prepares for a smooth journey, unbeknownst to her and the 370 passengers aboard that in Karachi, nefarious elements have planned to take the plane when it lands there. Executing their plan with violently precise tactics, the terrorists seize control of the plane, but are unable to take off due to a circumstance they hadn’t counted on. Stuck on the ground but no less driven in their purpose and resolve, Neerja, resistant at first, then filled with her own sense of commitment to the passengers, chooses to stand up in the face of terror and do everything in her power to keep order in the midst of chaos. Constantly under threat, she becomes a true example of heroism, courage, and bravery while her family, helpless and only able to listen and watch in Mumbai, stands by.
Next, my Mind:
Truly doing justice with words to describe the sheer level of heroic inspiration depicted in director Ram Madhvani’s “Neerja” would be honestly an exercise in futility. While a disclaimer prior to the film’s start indicates the events as shown are not intended to precisely reflect the actual incident that occurred in 1986, this in no way diminishes the heart-warming, then utterly gut-wrenching, emotional weight of what is presented here and the actions that Neerja Bhanot decided to take for the sake of the 359 people she saved. With cinematography and music that invokes the beauty of Neerja’s relationship with family while also so viscerally illustrating the truly horrific ordeal she and passengers of Flight 73 endured, there is simply nothing portrayed subtly in Madhvani’s effort.
Kapoor is an absolute gem of purity, beauty, tenuous determination, and complete valor in how she interprets the character of Neerja, a young woman so full of life, dreams, and future plans that you totally feel the heartbreak and sense of fear and initial hopelessness when the plane is taken over. Moreso, Kapoor enacts those fears via flashbacks to a marriage gone wrong and how it is still affecting her in the present. Azmi shines as Neerja’s stout-hearted mother, Rama, who unequivocally stood strong even while others around her were falling apart and doubting what the outcome of the situation would be. Likewise, Tikku brings a quietly subdued yet still powerful performance as her father Harish, and Ravjiani as Jaideep is just so well done as a character whose feelings for Neerja form a subplot with one potent punch.
In summary, “Neerja” is yet again another example of Bollywood doing things absolutely right and delivering a strong, passionate, heart-rending feature film that portrays something we still need more of–fortitude and the human spirit that remains undaunted, unafraid, and noble, even in the face of total evil.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
