EXCLUSIVE: Ram Madhvani on showing LYARI in Neerja, much before Dhurandhar, “Lyari happened to be…” : Bollywood News

Filmmaker Ram Madhvani’s Neerja completed 10 years yesterday. The film was based on the heroism of purser (senior cabin crew personnel) Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life to save a number of passengers during a flight hijack in 1986 in Karachi. The film earned critical and commercial success with performances of Sonam Kapoor and Shabana Azmi being hailed.

EXCLUSIVE: Ram Madhvani on showing LYARI in Neerja, much before Dhurandhar, “Lyari happened to be…”Interestingly, when this writer saw the film recently again, he realized that a part of its story is based in the Lyari town in Karachi. As we are aware, ever since the release of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, Lyari has become a household name as almost the entire Ranveer Singh starrer takes place in that town. Neerja shows a group of terrorists preparing for the hijack in Lyari.

When this was pointed out to Ram Madhvani during an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama, he was pleasantly surprised. He said, “We are very research-oriented and detail-oriented. Since the film is based on what really happened, Lyari just happened to be a part of the locality. It’s just that this is a true story because it happened in Karachi and that’s where the hijacking happened. That’s what we were going for.”

Looking back at Neerja after 10 years, Madhvani said, “Whatever we did, we did in respect of the memory of what happened. Even at the shoot, we used to light a diya every day for the people who lost their lives (in the hijack). To us, it was a prayer, it was something which was sacred in terms of the people and what really happened that day. It was really done with that spirit and that spirit is what shows. Even in A Waking of a Nation, the last series I did, we used to light a diya for the people, who lost their lives in Jallianwala Bagh (massacre). It was something we did it as a mark of respect.”

Neerja won two National Awards – Best Feature Film in Hindi and Special Mention for Sonam Kapoor.

Also Read: 10 years of Neerja EXCLUSIVE: Ram Madhvani recalls Shabana Azmi shooting challenging scenes while her mother was in hospital; also shares how Sonam Kapoor agreed for the film before screenplay was even written: “Sonam was always on board”