You Need to See ‘Neerja’, the Film About the Hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73

“Life should be big, not long.”

These are the foreshadowing words attributed to Neerja Bhanot in the beginning of the biographical film named after the flight attendant and real-life hero. On September 5, 1986, Neerja was just two days away from her 23rd birthday. She was working her first flight as head purser on Pan Am flight 73 when it was hijacked on the ground in Pakistan by four armed men.

It is thanks to Neerja’s lightning-quick thinking that the cockpit was warned and the pilots were able to escape – as is protocol – leaving the hijackers with no way to fly the plane. (Nowadays, depending on airline pilots seems an almost novice plan on the hijackers’ part, doesn’t it?) She also endeavored to hide the passports of 41 American passengers so that the hijackers could not target them as intended. I don’t want to spoil too many details of the film if you don’t know the story, but her bravery and impact on the situation didn’t end there.

What about the movie itself? I’m happy to report it is doing exceedingly well, as it should. This was an excellent film, and her family agrees. The casting of Neerja and her mother were both spot on (the resemblances are striking), and the acting doesn’t disappoint either. The performance of Job Sarbh, who plays one of the terrorists, is garnering particular praise. Trust me, you’ll know which one he is when you see it!

For me, the hijacking scenes were visceral in their effect. My heart pounded to watch the terrorists overtake the plane. This was the kind of hijacking I worried about during my initial training, wondering how crews managed to function in the face of such fear, accepting that it could happen to me and deciding to carry on with the job anyway. For a flight attendant who has thought about this a million times, the scenes are momentarily paralyzing – all while you watch how one incredible young woman was feeling the opposite. She faced it without hesitation, head on with forceful bravery and incredible, selfless grace.

It would seem like an obvious temptation for the filmmakers to have made the story a simple action flick (at least if this were an American film). Instead, to their great credit, they really take the time for the viewer to know Neerja, as well as her family. In case it’s unclear: bring your tissues.

The touch of using real images from her mother’s acceptance of the Ashok Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award for bravery, and the notion that Neerja was the youngest person and first woman to receive the honor, reminds you with a punch this is no tall tale. It’s worth hanging around during the credits for the real photos from Neerja’s modeling career as well.

The moments where the storytelling shifts to a music video-style montage playing alongside an emotional song pulled me out of the narrative a bit. I was pretty sure that some of the film would be in the Bollywood music stylings, but it is actually very restrained in this aspect. I think there were just one and a half of these songs over a 122-minute film, so I say just enjoy it as part of the cultural experience as best you can, knowing that part will be over soon.

If you are interested in the real story, there are many fascinating threads to follow up with, such as first-hand survivor accounts (like this particularly excellent one where a survivor recalls Neerja’s care even covered with blood from her own abdominal wound) and a recording of Neerja’s actual PA announcement. The stories of the trial and fate of the hijackers are fascinating in themselves, if not the ending we would like.

In the words of one survivor, Dr. Kishore Murthy, “Neerja was the first person who could have run away. She was trained and she knew what was happening. She was at the entrance of the aircraft when the terrorists boarded. She could have escaped like the pilots did, but she didn’t do it.” Instead, she stayed until literally the last moment, saving many lives with her actions. One of the children who she saved, then just seven years old, is now a captain for a major airline. He says Neerja has been his lifelong inspiration, and he owes every day of his life to her.

“Life should be big, not long.” We don’t know if that’s something the real Neerja ever really said, but it is an apt and powerful summary of the life and events brilliantly honored in the film.

[Photo: Bling Productions]