Brave Sonam refuses to be a prop

EVER SINCE THE evolution of Indian cinema, it has continued to be a male dominated industry. The scenario has been changing over the last few years. Suddenly out of 200-300 movies that come out of Bollywood, around 20-25 have significant roles for females. Sonam Kapoor's Neerja that releases in the UAE today is a woman-centric film based on the life of the brave heart flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who lost her life while saving the passengers on the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986. We spoke to Sonam when she came to Dubai last month for the promotion of this film.
BRAVEHEART SONAM
You got to give it to Sonam for surviving in Bollywood by doing things her way in spite of being called an average talent. In this golden era of Bollywood where talented and hardworking actresses like Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt etc are doing so well, we wonder how Sonam is able to do things her way?

There is no doubt that barring a few films like Saawariya, Players, Thank You etc, Sonam has mostly done films with a substantial role, be it Aisha, Raanjhana, Delhi 6 and Khoobsurat. The majority of those films flopped. But Anil Kapoor's 30-year-old daughter is in no mood to give up in spite of topping the list of worst actors very often. Her contemporary Deepika Padukone is a bright example of someone who learnt a lot from her job. In recent years, people shifted their focus from Deepika's drop dead gorgeous look to her talent and hard work. But in spite of coming from a film family, Sonam has proven time and again that she might not have inherited her talented father's acting gene. After talking to Sonam, you do understand that she really wants to be taken seriously as an actor. "I consider acting my job and I love my job. But I need to wake up in the morning and feel like I am looking forward to going to my job and be happy like that. So I am not looking at the end game but I am looking to my daily happiness and contentment. I really want to stretch myself creatively and artistically and I want to challenge myself. So I am not concerned about the reception, I am concerned about things that make me happy."
Blast from the past
Sonam truly never cared about others opinion. We try to recall our conversation with Sonam that took place two years back where she said, "Anyone who knows me would know that I am always falling over myself all the time, dressing up in a certain way that people now find fashionable. But when I joined the industry people thought I was crazy. I remember I was wearing this ridiculous dress in which I could barely walk around for an event. I was not doing it for anything else, but because I did not want to be a blunt copy of every person that you see in the magazines. I was trying to do something different and now everyone is trying to do something different, which is amazing and makes my life easier. Initially, when I came in, all I could hear was, 'Why is she walking around wearing that? What is she wearing? What does vintage mean? Why does she do her hair that way?'"
Giving it all to Neerja
The Kapoor girl who is chasing her dream in spite of criticism coming to her constantly told us that playing this role was a great opportunity to explore herself as an actor and also to understand the principles that Neerja stood for. She also told us that after hearing the script of this film, she got her agents to produce it. "Unfortunately there are only a few movies based on our real life heroes. It was fantastic to play an unsung hero, who has almost been forgotten in the last 30 years. I was very excited because the script was outstanding and I was like, 'Wow this is an amazing script that has come to me after a really long while.' I got my agents to produce it. Ram Madhavani was roped in to direct it and it turned out to be such an incredibly idealistic and honest project. I was just excited to be part of something that was so pure and honest and so artistic. That is exciting especially when you are in an industry like Bollywood."
Neerja Bhanot, a flight attendant on board the Pan Am Mumbai-New York flight, was shot dead by terrorists during the hijacking while trying to save the lives of passengers. Neerja was beaten up and eventually killed by the terrorists inside the plane. From where did Sonam derive the strength to play this character? "She was courageous and brave but she was very scared as well. So I think the best way to put it is, you are only brave when you are fearful. She was very afraid. But she still decided to do the right thing because that was ingrained in her to always act wise," Sonam said.
'We weren't allowed to use the loo for 16 hours'
Is Neerja the most difficult role that Sonam has done in her career till now? "To play a real character was challenging. That is what Ram tried to recreate, we were actually inside the plane for 16 hours. We weren't allowed to use the loo; we were not allowed to do this and we were not allowed to do that. My director wanted to create that same feeling for us. That was traumatising because he wanted us to shoot that way. We were all sweating, makeup was wearing off on our clothes, the desperation to go to the loo and the hunger - he wanted us to put all those emotions in because it is very difficult to perform that and to feel it. So he put us through that. Every film is a lot of hard work but this was extremely tough because there is a lot of action, trauma, and emotional stuff as well. We shot the whole film in 30 days and inside the plane for 15 days. Obviously, there are flashbacks to her life, her home, her relationship and marriage as well," Sonam said.
Sonam said the makers are not afraid that the film might face criticism for being factually inaccurate because they have done full research for the movie. "We had to talk to her family members and other survivors from the plane, otherwise you can't show realism. We need to show accounts and obviously, there have been a lot of cases fought against the terrorists. So we read a lot of witness accounts in depth. Everything has been accounted for and everything was written on paper. Her parents gave us the permission to make a film on her life. It is important for us to live up to the expectation since this is a biopic."
Neerja, very crucial for Sonam
It is a known fact that appearance, beauty, and vanity can only take you to a certain level in Bollywood, but the longevity of one's career depends on more than just how one looks. Sonam definitely doesn't disappoint when it comes to her style quotient. She never confines herself to regular norms of fashion. No wonder she has earned a respectable place at the Cannes Film Festival to showcase her fashion sense and rightly so. But Neerja will be a crucial film in Sonam's career to decide if she can carry a strong solo role on her shoulders.
arti@khaleejtimes.com