‘In Neerja, We Acted out a Hijack but Lived the Experience’

Aishwarya Subramaniam, who played one of the crew members with Sonam, talks about the life experience that Neerja was

Aishwarya Subramaniam (Sonam’s right) with Sonam Kapoor and the actors who play flight attendants in Neerja. (Photo Courtesy: Sonam Kapoor’s instagram)

Aishwarya Subramaniam played one of the crew members, with Sonam Kapoor, in Neerja.

Hail Ram!

A sentiment synonymous to this country, and now, among the cast and crew towards their director of the current cinematic sensation, Neerja. I have to give it to this man, Ram Madhvani, for actually recreating a life-changing situation, not just for all the audiences that would flock to the cinema screens this weekend (and hopefully the many that follow it), but for all the actors on board the flight too.

His true-to-life style of direction enabled us to feel the impact and intensity of a hijack situation in the closest manner and thereby deliver performances that were just as real.

I say this because the only brief we got, required us to be ourselves and go about doing what cabin crew normally do in an aircraft – serve the passengers and ensure safety measures. We were assigned our galleys, trained and equipped to make coffee, tea and check all the boarding passes at entry and exits.

At no point of time were we given dialogues, cues to cry, scream or even alerted about the movement of the terrorists. We were just as shocked, petrified and fearful of the situation inside that aircraft, as the audience watching us would feel.

To add to this, there was no interaction between the terrorists and the rest of the actors for almost the entire schedule. For us, they remained the bad guys, who could cause us any kind of harm while inside the aircraft. And so, the fear stayed alive and played out on-screen.

It was as though, we were trapped inside an aircraft and fearing our safety with the rest of the passengers. I can share with utmost honesty, that every tear, scream, slap or kick is as real as it can get. We acted out a hijack situation, but lived the experience!

This is just a fragment of the director’s vision and his unmistakable eye for detail, that will play out as visual perfection on-screen.