Same with the special effect of showing a TV clip of Shabana as her mother receiving the posthomous Ashoka Chakra award from President Zail Singh. The audience was already overwrought by the tragedy unfolding on screen. It was almost voyeuristic and designed to elicit tears from the audence. There are scenes of her body coming back and that seemed like an invasion of a private moment to me. It is the post hijacking part of the movie that becomes a little bit too maudlin. Her personality builds up from the happy go lucky person in the opening scenes to a person with presence of mind and a strong sense of duty that ultimately takes her life while shielding three young children from bullets. Interspersed are snippets from Neerja's life - her bad marriage, her new romance and her relationship with her parents who made her a strong individual. The tension, the confusion and the frustration on the part of the terrorists slowly builds up to the end where all hell breaks loose. The movie is taut and gripping from the beginning and the tension reaches a crescendo when the passengers escape after Neerja manages to open the emergency exits. Based on the story of Neerja Bhanot, the 23 year old PanAm airhostess who lost her life while trying to save passengers when their plane was hijacked had left a deep impression on me when it happened and seeing it on screen brought the horror back in vivid detail. Real life stories of bravery and valour from seemingly ordinary folks always touch a deep chord within us and Neerja does exactly that.
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