Reply With Quote
NEERAJA - Fantastic thriller ...also a great tribute
Cinepolis , Friday late night show , status :90% plus
Neerja Bhanot was the head air hostess on a Mumbai - Newyork flight that was hijacked at Karachi by few terrorists in 1986.
She played a crucial role in rescuing 356 passengers on board and was shot dead while saving 3 kids . It was a day before her 23rd b'day !!
She was honoured with many bravery awards from all over the world including Asoka chakra.
The film is a Bio-pic on her.
Neeraja was truly a unsung hero and its a story that had to be told . But Bio pics i feel is a difficult genre. No matter how interesting or exciting the individual life be our directors knowingly or unknowingly show a tendancy to get into a documentry mode ignoring the fact that at the end its film.
Personally i had disliked a Daniel or a bhag milkha bhag ( pursuit of happiness is possibly the best for me) .So it was with tad surprise that i was in awe of the craft displayed by debutant Ram madhvni . The guy it seems had amazing clarity on his intention and total control over his cinema.
As a thriller Neerja keep you on tender hook ...its not that edge of the seat kind but you feel taken onboard to a hijacked flight. We get a sense of tension , uncertainity and fear that the people especially crew would have gone through . I rarely prick into the technical side beyond cinematography but here i was impressed with the sound engineering . Without using any BGM they managed to give a certain tone that make you uneasy ..like a impending tragedy . In short very gripping.
It would have been unfair to the braveheart had the film just resorted as another thriller. But then our director have that knack with which he exibit the personal dynamics of Neerja despite limited scope . The equation she shared with her ex husband and boyfriend have been included in the narrative with such flair. What could have actually looked forced and distractive have added to the proper character development .
Also the family bonding that gives her the strength have been beautifully infused into the narrative . The sequences of sonam and azmi on bed, phone conversation between sonam and father are top class . Simple but so effective .
The shaky cinematography was initially irritating but that i feel added a realistic effect to the proceedings on screen . The screenplay is excellent and the dialogues are superb.
Sonam kapoor is perfectly cast as she does look similar to real Neerja and surprisingly she doesn' t slip even in serious scenes that required matured handling. Shabana azmi and yogendra as patents are simply terrific . So are the rest of the cast with a special mention to the short tempered terrorist .
Neeraja i thought is a crisp thriller and a much respectful bio pic. All through the film i was engaged with thrills but in the end it was the emotional connect that the character had on me that left deep impact .
Must watch
Rating : 4/5
Originally Posted by Jaisonjyothi
