Neerja - An extraordinary movie about an ordinary girl caught in extraordinary circumstances, and her courage and grace under fire. An ordinary girl, 23 years old, thrust into a position of leadership and command, under the worst possible circumstances. Beautiful movie, with stellar acting from Shabana Azmi as the mother, and even Sonam delivered a decent performance ... she actually acted. All the cast was fabulous, including the hijackers, who were hateful.
The beauty and the pathos of the movie was in the fact that it was a true story, and the makers did their research and stuck to the facts as much as possible. No gun blaring, arm toting larger than life heroes to the rescue, as in most American hijack movies ... no fairy tale ending with extraordinary rescue ... the true heroes were the unlikely ones ... the cabin crew, under the stewardship of a young purser on her first flight as purser, the passengers who stayed calm and cooperative under the horrific, terrifying circumstances, they thought of their fellow passengers even in the face of immediate and certain death ...
How people react when faced with the most terrifying circumstances ... danger brings out the best, and sometimes the worst in all of us. In Neerja, it brought out the best ... and in doing so, saved the lives of 359 of the almost 400 passengers on board that fateful flight.
Trivia -
The plane hijack scenes were shot over 4 stretches of four hours each. During that time, no one was allowed to call 'cut'. Sonam recounts that after the last shoot of four hours, she broke down and howled, she was so exhausted. Yet when asked how she felt, she replied that she got to go off the set and go home ... the real Neerja never did. During one scene when the hijacker was forcing Neerja to sing, Sonam was so pent up that she was collapsing, the actor was physically holding her up from behind.
The director recounts that he made the four actors playing the hijackers stay separate from the actors playing the passengers and crew. They were not allowed to intermingle with their fellow actors till the final hijack scenes were shot.
Neerja's real family was consulted on the shoot, and the director also took accounts from passengers and crew of the flight, before making the movie. One of the children Neerja saved is now a pilot, and every day he remembers Neerja, and the fact that he owes his life to her.
Neerja's father died a few years ago. Neerja's mother died two days before the trailer was released. Neerja's two brothers were shown the movie before the release.
If anyone here has not seen this movie, do go see it. It is highly recommended. You will not leave the theatre with dry eyes. yet it's not overtly emotional, not melodramatic. A very well made movie ... deservingly a blockbuster hit. It looks like the Indian moviegoer audience is accepting good content wholeheartedly ... first Airlift, now Neerja. Content is indeed king.
TV Shows -
Started watching the two new Sony shows ... can't remember their long names! Both are okay, the promos were more promising.
Kuch Rang Ke Pyaar Ke ... Shaheer Sheikh has improved tremendously from his Navya days, and looks very good too. I have liked Supriya Pilgaonkar since SGP days, and even before, since Tu Tu Main Main days ... she plays a grey role here, will be interesting to see how she carries it off. So far so good ... the possessive nature of the doting mother has started surfacing, as has the blind love for her son. Is the daughter justifiably angry and bitter, or is she jealous? The FL is very average, and hasn't gotten much screen space yet to showcase her talent.
Ek Duje Ke Vaaste ... After much racking my brains, I remember where I saw the FL earlier ... she was on a Life OK show, where she was bad. Here too, she seemed okay the first couple of episodes, but now she is overacting and hamming big time. The guy seems decent though ... and the story so far is interesting. Wish the FL was better.
Tamanna ... so Dharaa is going in for a divorce after six years of marriage ... that was unexpected. The makers have roped in many good actors ... Sonali Kulkarni made her entry today as the ?social worker in charge of the women's cell. The FL looks too old for the role, and doesn't have the spark required for a FL, her acting too is average.
Wonder what Baa will have to say about her darling granddaughter's marriage breaking down. Cricketing is not exactly a stable profession to support a child ... wonder where and how they will take this ahead. Again following the show for the story ... and again, so far so good.
Siya Ke Ram - can Sita stop lecturing??!! She has been turned into a typical SP bahu ... perfect in every which way ... and it's annoying!!! And Ram with that perpetual gentle benevolent smile on his face is equally so. The makers need to decide which way to go ... either make them human, with human frailties, or make them divine and get a move on with the story. The show is dragging unbearably and Sita Ram are too perfect and boring! Lakshman and Urmila are much more watchable.
The beauty and the pathos of the movie was in the fact that it was a true story, and the makers did their research and stuck to the facts as much as possible. No gun blaring, arm toting larger than life heroes to the rescue, as in most American hijack movies ... no fairy tale ending with extraordinary rescue ... the true heroes were the unlikely ones ... the cabin crew, under the stewardship of a young purser on her first flight as purser, the passengers who stayed calm and cooperative under the horrific, terrifying circumstances, they thought of their fellow passengers even in the face of immediate and certain death ...
How people react when faced with the most terrifying circumstances ... danger brings out the best, and sometimes the worst in all of us. In Neerja, it brought out the best ... and in doing so, saved the lives of 359 of the almost 400 passengers on board that fateful flight.
Trivia -
The plane hijack scenes were shot over 4 stretches of four hours each. During that time, no one was allowed to call 'cut'. Sonam recounts that after the last shoot of four hours, she broke down and howled, she was so exhausted. Yet when asked how she felt, she replied that she got to go off the set and go home ... the real Neerja never did. During one scene when the hijacker was forcing Neerja to sing, Sonam was so pent up that she was collapsing, the actor was physically holding her up from behind.
The director recounts that he made the four actors playing the hijackers stay separate from the actors playing the passengers and crew. They were not allowed to intermingle with their fellow actors till the final hijack scenes were shot.
Neerja's real family was consulted on the shoot, and the director also took accounts from passengers and crew of the flight, before making the movie. One of the children Neerja saved is now a pilot, and every day he remembers Neerja, and the fact that he owes his life to her.
Neerja's father died a few years ago. Neerja's mother died two days before the trailer was released. Neerja's two brothers were shown the movie before the release.
If anyone here has not seen this movie, do go see it. It is highly recommended. You will not leave the theatre with dry eyes. yet it's not overtly emotional, not melodramatic. A very well made movie ... deservingly a blockbuster hit. It looks like the Indian moviegoer audience is accepting good content wholeheartedly ... first Airlift, now Neerja. Content is indeed king.
TV Shows -
Started watching the two new Sony shows ... can't remember their long names! Both are okay, the promos were more promising.
Kuch Rang Ke Pyaar Ke ... Shaheer Sheikh has improved tremendously from his Navya days, and looks very good too. I have liked Supriya Pilgaonkar since SGP days, and even before, since Tu Tu Main Main days ... she plays a grey role here, will be interesting to see how she carries it off. So far so good ... the possessive nature of the doting mother has started surfacing, as has the blind love for her son. Is the daughter justifiably angry and bitter, or is she jealous? The FL is very average, and hasn't gotten much screen space yet to showcase her talent.
Ek Duje Ke Vaaste ... After much racking my brains, I remember where I saw the FL earlier ... she was on a Life OK show, where she was bad. Here too, she seemed okay the first couple of episodes, but now she is overacting and hamming big time. The guy seems decent though ... and the story so far is interesting. Wish the FL was better.
Tamanna ... so Dharaa is going in for a divorce after six years of marriage ... that was unexpected. The makers have roped in many good actors ... Sonali Kulkarni made her entry today as the ?social worker in charge of the women's cell. The FL looks too old for the role, and doesn't have the spark required for a FL, her acting too is average.
Wonder what Baa will have to say about her darling granddaughter's marriage breaking down. Cricketing is not exactly a stable profession to support a child ... wonder where and how they will take this ahead. Again following the show for the story ... and again, so far so good.
Siya Ke Ram - can Sita stop lecturing??!! She has been turned into a typical SP bahu ... perfect in every which way ... and it's annoying!!! And Ram with that perpetual gentle benevolent smile on his face is equally so. The makers need to decide which way to go ... either make them human, with human frailties, or make them divine and get a move on with the story. The show is dragging unbearably and Sita Ram are too perfect and boring! Lakshman and Urmila are much more watchable.
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