Harshada Rege (DNA; January 25, 2016)

Sonam Kapoor will be the chief guest at the Republic Day flag hoisting ceremony at Bombay Scottish School. However, the actress has not been invited as an alumni of the institution, or a celebrity. Instead, she has been asked to do the honours because Neerja Bhanot, who Sonam will be essaying in the forthcoming movie Neerja, was a student of the school.

Says Sonam, “I am honoured that Bombay Scottish has invited me for the flag hoisting ceremony. The hijack happened 30 years ago, and I am glad that through the film her story has re-emerged. It’s the kind of story that you would want everyone to know. It’s about doing the right thing. Something that’s very relevant in today’s day and age. We are living in dark times. There is turmoil all around us. The qualities that Neerja had, the youth should be encouraged to imbibe those. Not just to be brave, but also to stand for what they believe in.”

The actress adds that she signed the film because she identified with the braveheart, “When I signed the movie, the one thing that hit me was that she is like one of us. She is from Bombay Scottish. She’s a Mumbai girl. She is like anyone of us...young, beautiful and successful. The one thing that stands out about her is that she was very principled. She’s definitely someone who displayed many aspirational qualities.”

At the event, Sonam will be addressing the students. She explains, “Republic Day is also about celebrating people who have done something for the country. And Neerja was all of 23. If you had asked me two years ago about whom I looked up to I would have taken other names, but now I really admire Neerja. She was a girl who came from a family that would seem ordinary, but went to on to do something that was absolutely extraordinary. I want to emphasise on that. She proved that anyone can be a superhero. Kids look up to Superman and Spider-Man who have special powers, and that’s why we need to tell them about people like them who have done extraordinary things. We should be extremely proud that a 23-year-old Indian girl had such extraordinary courage.”