Renowned purser and chief FLIGHT attendant who was killed in an attempt to save the lives of hundreds of passengers on the hijacked FLIGHT Pan Am FLIGHT 73 in September of 1986. After her death she was awarded the Ashok Chakra for bravery.
It was while studying at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai that she was spotted by an agent and began a modeling career. Then, in 1985, she applied for a job as a FLIGHT attendant with Pan Am.
Her brother, Aneesha, published the coffee table book The Neerja I Knew as a tribute to her after her death.
She was born to Rama and Harish Bhanot, a Journalist, and had two brothers Akhil and Aneesh. She had an arranged marriage in 1985 but the union dissolved within two months.
In 2016, Actress Sonam Kapoor played her in the biographical thriller Neerja about her life.
