In the year 1986, the four terrorists hijacked the Pan Am Flight 73 that flies from Mumbai to Frankfurt. The flight was hijacked when it landed in Karachi at 5 am. The most senior cabin crew member Neerja Bhanot showed bravery by alerting the cockpit crew about this hijack. The 3 member American cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer fled was the plane as the plane was on the tarmac.

Neerja was instructed by the terrorists to collect all the passengers' passport so that they can know who the Americans are. However, the passports of 41 passengers were hidden by Neerja and the other attendants under her charge. The fire was opened and explosives were set off by the hijackers after 17 hours. Neerja was the one, who assisted many passengers by opening the emergency door. She could have saved herself by jumping out but she decided to not to and lost her life while saving three kids from the bullets of the terrorists. Neerja Bhanot received the Ashoka Chakra, posthumously and became the heroine of the hijack internationally.

Very soon, Ram Madhwani will helm the film based on this story and as per the report, Sonam Kapoor is going to play the lead role in this film, which is presently titled as 'Neerja'. The shooting of the flick will start in Mumbai.