Bollywood
movie
Neerja,
which
grossed
an
estimated
Rs
125
crore
in
worldwide
earnings
and
bagged
the
National
Award
for
Best
Hindi
Feature
Film,
among
several
other
film
awards,
could
be
headed
for
a
legal
battle
with
the
family
of
braveheart
flight
purser
Neerja
Bhanot
all
set
to
take
the
producers
of
the
box
office
hit
film
to
court.
The
main
contention
of
the
Bhanot
family
is
that
the
makers
of
the
successful
film
did
not
honour
their
commitment
to
share
10
per
cent
of
the
box
office
collections
with
the
Neerja
Bhanot
Trust
and
the
family.
"I
will
not
comment
on
this
issue
at
this
stage.
All
I
can
tell
you
is
that
we
will
not
tolerate
injustice," Aneesh
Bhanot,
brother
of
Neerja
Bhanot,
told
IANS
here.
Aneesh
refused
to
give
any
details
about
the
legal
case,
saying
that
the
family
lawyer
will
be
able
to
give
the
exact
status.
Sources,
however,
said
that
the
family
is
moving
the
Punjab
and
Haryana
High
Court
in
this
regard
and
a
legal
notice
has
already
been
served
on
the
makers
of
Neerja.
Starring
actress
Sonam
Kapoor,
who
played
the
lead
role
of
Neerja
Bhanot
and
even
got
a
special
mention
by
the
jury
of
the
National
Film
awards
for
her
acting,
the
film
bagged
the
'Best
Feature
Film
in
Hindi'
award
at
the
64th
National
Film
Awards
in
April
this
year.
Produced
by
Fox
Star
Studios
and
Bling
Unplugged,
the
film
was
co-produced
by
leading
fashion
photographer
Atul
Kasbekar.
It
was
directed
by
Ram
Madhvani.
Neerja
Bhanot
gave
up
her
life,
two
days
before
she
would
have
turned
23,
to
save
travellers
during
a
terrorist-hijack
of
a
Pan-Am
flight
at
Karachi
international
airport
in
Pakistan
on
September
5,
1986.
Neerja,
who
was
the
senior
flight
purser
of
Pan-Am
73
(Bombay-Karachi-Frankfurt-New
York)
flight,
was
killed
in
the
shootout
following
the
hijack.
Palestinian
terrorists
from
the
Abu
Nidal
terrorist
group
had
entered
the
aircraft
posing
as
Pakistani
Police
personnel,
carrying
arms
and
hand
grenades.
The
hijack
had
left
20
people
dead
and
150
others
injured
after
a
bloodbath
at
the
Karachi
airport.
There
were
around
200
Indian
passengers
on
the
flight,
of
which
13
died
while
over
100
were
injured.
Following
her
act
of
bravery
and
supreme
sacrifice,
Neerja
was
given
the
Ashoka
Chakra,
India's
highest
peacetime
gallantry
award
for
bravery,
in
1987.
She
became
the
youngest
and
first
woman
recipient
of
the
Gallantry
Award.
Born
in
Chandigarh
in
1963,
Neerja
lived
with
her
family
in
Bombay
(now
Mumbai)
when
the
hijacking
took
place.
Her
family
is
settled
here.