Sonam K Ahuja, who was last seen in Shelly Chopra Dhar’s ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ and basking in the glory of success, is making the headlines again and all for the right reasons. Exactly 3 years ago, on this same date she had managed to garner a lot of praise for her biographical thriller film ‘Neerja’. Directed by Ram Madhvani and Sonam essayed the role of Neerja Bhanot – a courageous flight attendant who had sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on the Pan Am flight 73 in 1986. The flight was hijacked by a terrorist organization.

To mark the day, an emotional Sonam took to her social media and posted a video in which she says, “I had gone for an event to Chandigarh and Atul and Ram and everyone were with me and they were like we need to see the family, they have to be okay with you doing it, they have to be okay with the film being made and we need to meet them and speak to them about it and the first thing Rama aunty said was yehtoh meri laddo hai and I remember I had gooseflesh when she said that. She said that there is something about the way I am which reminded her of her daughter, that was very humbling for me, I was like if I am doing this film then I can’t let this lady down.”

When you do a movie that is based on such reality and pain and follows the true story of heroism and love, it’s truly overwhelming. Three years later I am honoured to convey this inspirational story.#3YearsOfNeerja pic.twitter.com/venwMPptyO

— Zoya Singh Solanki (@sonamakapoor) February 19, 2019

‘Neerja’ also featured Shabana Azmi, Yogendra Tiku and Shekhar Ravjiani in supporting roles. The film won two awards at the 64th National Film Awards including Best Feature Film in Hindi and Special Mention for Kapoor. At the 62nd Filmfare Awards, it won six awards, including Best Film (Critics), Best Actress (Critics) (Kapoor), and Best Supporting Actress (Azmi).