Spinster Screening: Neerja
The cheap movie theater I like to go to uses a portion of their screens for Bollywood movies. I'd always heard Bollywood movies were super long, so I'd been putting off the experience of seeing one for a while. Recently, though, my friend Sara has been really into Bollywood, and so I decided this was my time!
The movie Sara and I decided to see last night was not, I don't think, strictly Bollywood. There was only one dance number, and there was no comic relief. In fact, it was a biopic about one Neerja Bhanot, a flight attendant who helped save many passengers on a hijacked plane where she was working in 1986. If you don't know the story already, and you want the movie to be as suspenseful as possible, don't click the link there. Going in, I didn't know the story, and I think it enhanced my experience.
Other than a few editing choices (still frames in the middle of the movie that did not indicate the end), this movie far exceeded my expectations. It was dramatic, but this was a story that called for serious drama. Plus, I found the main character, her parents, her family, and her love interest exceedingly charming.
So, if there's a place for you to see a movie from India while it's out, I highly recommend Neerja. The original story is crazy, and the movie itself is great. Two spinsterly thumbs up!
