Makers of the Bollywood movie Neerja could be headed towards a legal battle with the family of the late flight purser Neerja Bhanot, on whom the movie is based.
The main contention of the Bhanot family is that the makers of the film did not honour their commitment to share 10 per cent of the box office collections with them and the Neerja Bhanot Trust.
Neerja grossed an estimated Rs1.25 billion (Dh71 million) worldwide and bagged the Indian National Award for Best Hindi Feature Film along with several other awards.
“I will not comment on this issue at this stage. All I can tell you is that we will not tolerate injustice,” said Aneesh Bhanot, brother of Bhanot.
Aneesh refused to give out any details about the case, saying that the family lawyer will be able to give the exact status.
Sources said that the family is petitioning the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a legal notice has already been served to the makers of Neerja.
The movie featured actress Sonam Kapoor in the lead role as Neerja Bhanot.
Produced by Fox Star Studios and Bling Unplugged, the film was co-produced by fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar and was directed by Ram Madhvani.
Bhanot died two days before she would have turned 23 while trying to save passengers during a plane hijacking in Pakistan on September 5, 1986.
She was the senior flight purser on the Pan-Am 73 flight and was killed in the shoot-out following the hijack.
The hijacking left 43 people dead and 120 injured.
Following her act of bravery, Bhanot was given the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award for bravery, in 1987. She became the youngest and first woman recipient of the award.
Born in Chandigarh in 1963, Bhanot lived with her family in Bombay (now Mumbai). Her family still lives there.
