Sonam Kapoor: Neerja Bhanot’s story will inspire young women

Mumbai: Sonam Kapoor will be seen in the biopic of Neerja Bhanot, a Pan Am cabin crew member who died saving passengers on a hijacked flight, and the actress says the flight attendant’s story will inspire young women of the country.

Bhanot, the senior most flight attendant on board a Pan Am Mumbai-New York flight, was shot dead by terrorists, who hijacked the flight at Karachi in 1986, in her courageous bid to save the lives of passengers.

She became the youngest recipient of India’s highest peacetime military award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra.

“I thought doing this film just reaffirms that it is about not bowing down. She (Neerja) had won the Arjuna Award for bravery and is the youngest and only female to win it. I think it’s commendable. It is an inspiring story for me to do. I am blessed,” Sonam told PTI.

The 30-year-old star chose to do the film because she felt young girls could imbibe the virtue of courage by watching the movie.

“The reason I chose to do this film is because I feel that girls need to have a lot of courage. I have lot of it when I speak about certain things and when I have to stand up for myself. There were times when many people were advising me not to speak up for something that I believe was wrong,” she said.

The 'Khoobsurat' actress said that shooting of the biopic has been completed but it is quite early to reveal much about it.

Directed by Ram Madhvani, the film also has veteran actress Shabana Azmi.