1 Honest intentions
Ram Madhvani made it clear through his writing that his only intention was to pay a tribute to Neerja Bhanot. In other words, he was honest in his effort. Our films are known for taking a lot of cinematic liberties and adding Bollywood elements in real-life stories. But that wasn’t the case with Neerja.
2 Mature direction
It can be a big headache for any director to handle such an emotional and sensitive tale. But Madhvani showed that he had such precision needed to tackle a biopic of this nature. This can be mostly seen during hijack scenes, which are not anything we generally see in mainstream Hindi cinema.
3 Chemistry
Another reason why Neerja scores high is because of the bonding of the protagonist with people close to her — mother, father, boyfriend and friends. During various sequences, Neerja’s relationship with various characters stand out. This increased the film’s appeal by making it more relatable.
4 Realism
While narrating stories of bravery, Hindi films generally make the protagonist unbreakable from inside. This adds to the heroism, but it also ends up being unrealistic. Madhvani steered away from this practice. He showed Neerja vulnerable in some scenes, which is common for all of us when faced with something as scary as hijacking. The scene where a disturbed Neerja locks herself up in the plane washroom and gains motivation thinking about her mother’s words of bravery stays with you.
5 Performances
Sonam Kapoor's acting chops weren't something that was appreciated before Neerja. But Madhvani managed to bring out her best act till date. The film also rides high on good performances by Shekhar Ravjiani (Neerja’s boyfriend) and Yogendra Tiku (her father). But Shabana Azmi stands out and how. Who can forget her emotional speech in the climax?