Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor in her upcoming biopic Neerja brings to life the character of Neerja Bhanot, the late heroic flight attendant of a hijacked Indian plane.
Ever since the trailer of the film was released, it took social media by storm as it depicted the spine-chilling account of Pan Am Flight 73 hijack in 1985 in which the 22-year-old emerged as the real hero to India. However, the makers of the film were left surprised when they approached Neerja’s family with the idea of her biopic in Chandigarh.
One would have thought of paying a huge amount of money to acquire the rights of such a historic story in which the lives of 359 passengers were saved at the cost of one brave soul, but Neerja’s mother Rama Bhanot and her brothers refused to charge a single penny, reports India Today.
In fact, they just requested to keep Neerja’s honour intact throughout the movie.
As the release date approaches, the Bhanot family is said to be happy with the way the film has turned out to be.
Earlier, Sonam personally met Rama, who passed away recently, in Chandigarh. The late mother of the warrior felt her own daughter had walked into her house when she first saw Sonam.
“We are all touched by Neerja’s family’s gesture (of not asking for any money). We have all given more than our 100 per cent to live up to their expectations and do full justice to Neerja’s story,” the director Ram Madhvani was quoted as saying, reports India Today.
Neerja also stars veteran actor Shabana Azmi as the mother. It is slated to release on February 19.
