For showing incredible human kindness.
Neerja Bhanot was e Flight attendant, and model, who just happened to be aboard the Pan Am flight 73 in 1986, when it was hijacked by a bunch of Terrorists. We follow her life before the flight, and watch her say farewell to this one guy that might have a thing for her. He gives her a letter she opens on the plane. Moments later, terrorists blast through the gates and ride up to the plane under a serenade of gunfire. They don't close the door in time, but the pilots escape, and so the plane remains on the ground. The terrorists roam the aisles, threatening to kill them all, and Neerja tries to communicate.
It seemed a bit cheesy with an Indian plane hijacking and love story mash-up at first, but don't be so sure that's all it is. Though the terrorists don't seem like the most professional bunch, that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. I didn't expect too much at first, but in the end, it was a pretty gripping watch.
That Neerja Bhanot died, just 23 years old, is probably no secret in India, but it was one to me, so I'll wrap a spoiler tag around this just in case you, like me, didn't know how this movie was going to end. When the shit hit the fan she sacrificed herself to save a group of kids, and before that she did much else that surely saved the lives of many more. 359 of 379 passengers survived, and the 4 Abu Nidal terrorists were trialed and sentenced to life imprisonment. The quote above was in her honor, a Pakistani 'Tamgha-e-Insaniyat citation'. rated 3/5: not bad
