Neerja Movie Review: Emotional, Inspiring, Teary And Flawless

Rating:
3.5/5

Sonam Kapoor's Neerja movie is about the 23-year-old airhostess who sacrificed her life to save 380 hostages when Pan Am Flight 73 got hijacked by terrorists.

While this great girl died a hero, many were left unknown about what she had done for the country at such a young age. At such a point enters Ram Madhvani, Fox Star and Atul Kasbekar who decided to bring her inspiring story to life. Will Neerja movie do justice to Neerja Bhanot? Read to find out!

Neerja Movie Review

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravjiani

Director: Ram Madhvani

Neerja Plot:

The plot of Neerja revolves around the life of Neerja Bhanot and her traumatic experience leading to her unfortunate death.

She was all of 23 years old, 25 hours shy of her 24th birthday when the incident took place leading to her death.

On the ill-fated night, when Pan Am 73 landed in Karachi, it got hijacked by four terrorists. Neerja who was present in the flight, quickly alerted the pilots who fled the cockpit while Neerja stayed behind to make sure the safety of the passengers.

Thiis was her first flight as the hearperson and yet she manages to keep calm while being scared and tries her best to handle the situation.

There were 379 hostages on the flight and Neerja fought for 17 hours in that hostile environment. She hides American people's passports so that the terrorists don't find the natives of America and kill them.

She overhears them discussing about targeting American first, to sacrifice them and kill them to convince and scare the government into sending the pilots.

So this smart move by Neerja saves a lot of lives and buys them time. Post 17 hours when the terrorists start firing, fearing a military attack, she swiftly opens the emergency doors which helped 359 people escape.

Neerja would have still been alive, had she not jumped in to save three children. As soon as she sees the man firing at the kids, she jumps in, takes the bullet, leading to her untimely death.

Her brave sacrifice at the age of 23 got honoured with the most prestigious award by the Government of India, post which she became the youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award.

While the story of this unsung hero itself is gripping and captivating. The makers have done it that much justice while giving it life on the big screen.

Coming to the performances, this is definitely Sonam Kapoor's career best performance and thank god she did this movie for it will change the way people have perceived her till date.

There are times when the typical Sonam Kapoor expressions pop but they are far less and can be totally missed.

Music director Shekhar Ravjiani who essays the role of Jaydeep, Neerja's friend who was head over heels in love with her, does a fab job. For a debut performance, Shekhar will impress you because there was not a moment where you'll feel he was acting. A natural performance that lasted just few minutes, making us wish there was more of him in the film.

Shabana Azmi as the mother is a class artist who gives such a realistic performance and it is she who brings tears in your eyes in the climax scene.

Some way feel the motherly emotions were tad overdone or there was drama but if as a child we have seen how our mother behaves then you'll realize that there was no drama in the film and everything was shown as realistic as possible.

Every actor who made an appearance in the film has done well, the only thing that probably could have been changed is the terrorists.

These guys were not as scary as one would expect them to be, they all did perform well but a touch more would have helped.

Direction by Ram Madhvani is perfection, this debut director has excelled more than any ace director in the Bollywood. He has kept the story crisp and to the point, no Bollywood drama, no Bollywood twists and turns, its all abotu Neerja Bhanot and it's all about the Pan Am 73 hijack.

From the beginning of the movie, till the end, he keeps you hooked to you seats and at the end of the day, that is what one expects while watching a movie.

So Ram has hit a sixer with Neerja! Another name worth mentioning is Saiwyn Quadras who has penned the story and the screenplay. It is with this guy's perfect screenplay was Ram able to do such a fab job.

He is the same guy who penned the story and screenplay of Mary Kom, so you guys know what talent we are taking about. If you liked his work in Mary Kom then trust us and walk into the theatre to see Neerja, for he has done the same flawless job in this movie as well.

There are very tiny flaws which are not even worth mentioning as Neerja movie as a whole is truly maginificent movie.

Verdict:

Neerja is emotional, inspiring and truly flawless movie. It will move you, it will change you and it is a must watch. Book your tickets now!

Some Scenes From The Movie

ALSO READ! Neerja Movie Review By Audience (Live): Viewers Bowled Over By This Outstanding Film

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