Mar 15, 2016 01:21 AM
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So how do you make a movie of an incident that is etched on the minds of most educated people born by 1970? A story that everyone knows, or thinks they know? A story that some time or the other people have researched on Google?
You do it by keeping to the facts, not adding any unnecessary songs, by creating the spirit of the character you are showing on the screen alive. Combine this with one of her finest performances by your leading lady and the main villain, give it some credible direction and you have a movie like Neerja
The background sounds and the scores have been kept pretty real and the tight screenplay rivets you to the action without the need for the score to be melodramatic.
The movie’s attention to detail is sharp and keeps the screenplay tight. The director has a good grip on the narrative and the juxtaposition of the flashback with the present only seeks to highlight the way our brain actually works in a crisis situation. He shows us starkly what it took for her and her colleagues to keep their wits around them. These were men with no mercy murder on their minds, they has already killed two people and would not hesitate to do that to another. In a tense situation- as every hostage crisis is – it takes the kind of guts the real life Neerja had to keep her mind from getting unhinged and to control the situation as best as she could, giving up her life when required because she stood by what was right.
Subtly fine performances by Shabana Azmi(expected) and Sonam(totally unexpected) carry the film through. . IT is hard to capture the impish charisma of Neerja that an entire generation of people above 40 remembers with much love, but she pulls it off.
Sonam plays the role effectively in a very memorable performance- easily her best, making you feel tender and protective towards her- especially in the morning wake up scene with her mom, Shabana.
While Shabana is a thespian and no words can describe the performances she brings to life and touches our hearts with her scenes and her obituary in the end, it remains to be seen if Jim Sarbh, the amazingly gifted find who evokes strong loathing as the main villain - will become another Amjad Khan or Sanjeev Kapoor. He has certainly brought a lot of character to his role even overshadowing the experienced Sonam in some scenes.
Go watch the movie if you can still catch it
