Nupur AgrawalFrom the scene where Neerja is shown to be getting ready for her early morning flight while simultaneously showing the terrorists getting set for their mission, the way she asks her Mom to gift her a yellow salwar kameez when she comes back as her birthday was due in 2 days and as she merrily hums Kaka’s songs on her way to the airport, no one can tell that this girl who loves and lives life to the fullest is soon going to lay it down for people she has never ever met before.
When Neerja Bhanot naughtily quotes ‘Babu moshai, Zindagi Badi honi chahiye, Lambi nahi’, you know she is going to stick to her words till the end. Despite knowing what’s going to happen, and what will be the end of this story, what was important was the visual narration of the journey, which has been fantastically done by Ram Madhvani in this blistering biopic. The movie has a few light moments showing her bond with her family and beau and how she is adored by them along with a few created with passengers while boarding the flight right before hell breaks loose and every moment from there on is full of anxiety, fear and bewilderment at that courageous girl played sincerely by Sonam in her best film so far. Her parents Harish Bhanot (Yogendra Tiku) and Rama Bhanot (Shabana Azmi) are so relatable that they remind you of your own and how they care about nothing but their child’s well being.
Although Sonam Kapoor has been a part of movies with substance like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Delhi – 6 but this is the first time she carried an intense film with a subject so strong completely on her shoulders. Except a couple of crying scenes, where she looks a bit too sophisticated, she does an excellent job of stepping into the shoes of the fearless Neerja, especially in a scene where the terrorists frisk her and there is no sign of shame or fear on her face.
In this movie based on hijack, before you even think that the flight scenes might get claustrophobic, it flashes back to her vulnerable past and beautifully weaves the story behind who she is now. Although every moment draws a parallel imagination of what must have happened on that fateful day of 5th September, 1986 in the Pan Am Flight 73, when the movie plays a song ‘Aisa Kyu Maa‘, it would make a wooden heart melt like an ice cream. We all know how hard it is to play the bad guy, and Jim Sarbh who plays Khalil- the most pathetic and ruthless terrorist of the lot, has done it with panache. Especially in a scene where he commits a murder and is casually playing with peanuts immediately after, you would hate him from bottom of your heart but love the actor for being so hateful.
The last 15 minutes have been specially written for those who couldn’t shed tears in the entire movie, and we bet you can’t get up without crying your heart out for that supposedly ordinary girl who exhibited something so extra ordinary that her name will forever be etched in the history of world and the hearts of those she saved, as the spine chilling song aptly sums it up – ‘Kehta ye pal, khud se nikal, jeete hai chal jeete hai chal jeete hai chal’.
Rarely does it happen that a movie keeps flashing in the mind hours and days after having watched it. Undoubtedly, Neerja is and will remain to be one of them. It goes without saying – Neerja is unmissable.