Miscellaneous
Beyond the call of duty
Sonam Kapoor is believable and watchable in Neerja, a film that is a great deal more restrained than expected and demonstrates a sense of real respect for its subjectPreena Shrestha
I’ll admit to having harboured some reservations re: the decision to cast one Ms Sonam Kapoor as the lead in the film adaptation of the real-life story of Neerja Bhanot, whose death had made headlines in the late 80s. Bhanot had been working as a purser for a Pan Am flight when it was hijacked by a Palestinian terrorist group, and the 22-year-old was said to have shown remarkable bravery during the crisis, doing absolutely everything in her power to ensure the safety of her wards onboard even though it meant losing her own life in the end. With the result that she was made the posthumous recipient of various awards for her valour, including India’s prestigious Ashok Chakra.
So this meant Kapoor had some pretty big shoes to fill. But considering that the actress’ career trajectory thus far has hardly been the sort to inspire confidence known more forher fashion statements and brand endorsements than performances in film one can’t really be blamed for being skeptical about her ability to pull off such a role. However, it gives me enormous joy to report that Kapoor proves both believable and watchable in the new Neerja far from the casting catastrophe many of us were certain it would be. And, as an additional pleasant surprise, the film is a great deal more toned down than you’d expect from a commercial Bollywood offering, especially given source material so rife with melodramatic potential as this. Although there are certainly clichéd embellishments plugged in here and there, Neerja is, on the whole, fairly restrained, and demonstrates a sense of real respect for its subject.
It is September 5, 1986, two days before Neerja Bhanot (Kapoor)’s 23rd birthday, and she’s readying for her first stint as head purser for Pan Am Flight 73, flying from Mumbai to Karachi to New York. Mum Rama (Shabana Azmi) is fretting as she always does whenever Neerja has a shift, wishing she would give up this line of work and focus on her modeling instead a far safer career choice, in her mind; dad Harish (Yogendra Tiku), however, is just glad to see his little girl so focused and doing what makes her happy she deserves it after what she’s suffered in the recent past. Bags packed, bob smoothed and lipstick on, Neerja quickly says her goodbyes and heads off to the airport, excited about getting to take charge of the crew for once.
Meanwhile, many miles away, in Lyari, Karachi, a wholly different kind of preparation is underway. Four men belonging to the Abu Nidal organisation are laying out an impressive collection of guns and bombs, all to be employed in the capture of the very same flight that Neerja is on. The men are hoping to use the hijacking to broker a deal that will get some of their incarcerated affiliates released, and escape to Cyprus thereafter.
Given that we’re already dealing with a story whose ending is public knowledge, there’s little sense in revealing too much plot here: I’ll leave it to you to discover how exactly the terrorists’ plan pans out, and the role Bhanot comes to play there in. Just know that director Ram Madhvani for whom this is the second big-screen outing since his debut in 2002 with the Boman Irani-starrer Let’s Talk manages to walk, for the most part, that tricky line between staying faithful to fact and twisting it for effect. This means that while there are sequences ruled by exaggerated sentimentality, where the manipulation couldn’t be more blatant such as the too-cheery initial scenes intended to establish the dynamics within the Bhanot household and set things up for tragedy, or the prolonged, exhausting finale that hammers relentlessly at your emotions the film doesn’t always lack so in subtlety; there are several moments of genuine, heartfelt connection to characters that allow you to become invested in their welfare. So, even though Neerja is designed as a tribute to Bhanot’s heroic feats, it also refrains from lionising her excessively, keeping its adulation largely in check a low-key strategy that works to lift the authenticity of the narrative.
Again, knowing what we already know about the fate of the central character, it’s commendable that Madhvani is still able to maintain such a sense of suspense and urgency as he does here, helped in no small measure by Mitesh Mirchandani’s jerky, jittery camerawork that echoes the tension and dread that defined Bhanot’s last hours. The confinement of most of the action to such a tight space namely, the interiors of a plane adds another layer of anxiety to the proceedings, drawing us in further. And although the focus is predominantly on present-day happenings, there are frequent interludes wherein we’re offered glimpses into Bhanot’s past flashbacks that can feel rather gimmicky at times for the manner in which they are cued in via rather obvious “parallel” links, but which work well enough on the whole to facilitate better insight into the subject’s heart and mind.
Neerja’s biggest surprise, however, as mentioned earlier, is Kapoor’s performance, quite a step up from the limited range she’s demonstrated in previous turns in films hopefully a sign of better things to come. While she does stumble in a few places, particularly in earlier portions, by the time she’s in uniform and facing off against the attackers, the actress is visibly in control, rising ably to the challenge. Azmi, although given some pretty hammy lines, represents the emotional crux of the film, along with Tiku, both incredibly understated; indeed, it’s scenes that show the impact Bhanot’s predicament has on her loved ones, in which we see the sheer terror flashing across their faces even as they try to pull themselves together, that form the film’s strongest, most compelling bits. One does wish, though, that more effort had been put into humanising the villains in the film, in terms of expanding on who they are and where they’re coming from as is, however, they’ve been sketched flimsily within the limits of the Arab-terrorist stereotype, an unfortunate oversight.
Madhvani could have very easily turned Bhanot’s tale into a patriotic paean to Indian daring, but he thankfully abstains from riding on the shoulders of that sort of cheap, easy nationalism, choosing rather to make it about the larger questions of human resilience, and simply, kindness. Although we are given a sense of the wider political milieuin the negotiation between authorities, for instance, and in what led the attack to occur in the first place Neerja is, at its core, a very personal story about a young woman who, when pushed against unthinkable evil, instead of pulling back and saving herself, places herself in the line of fire to help save others around her. It’s a pared-down approach to depicting heroism that is refreshing and effective, and very much worth a watch.