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Shortly before Talia Duff of Ipswich, Massachusetts, turned 9, her mother noticed that she was losing mobility. Talia, who has Down syndrome, could no longer use a spoon or give a hug and her arms and legs had become increasingly weak.

Jocelyn Duff, a physician’s assistant, and her husband, John Duff, dean at a community college, took their daughter to the hospital for testing and received devastating news in September 2015: Talia had a rare genetic disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Neuropathy Type 4J — a disorder estimated to be shared by only 22 people worldwide. The disease causes profound muscle weakness and eventually affects the capability to breathe.

The trailer of the much awaited biopic Neerja has created a stir among the audience. Sonam Kapoor plays Neerja Bhanot who sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on the hijacked Pan Am flight 73 in 1986. In the wake of the film’s release, the daughter of one of the pilots on the plane, Nicole Thomas Fredrick has written an open letter to the makers and expressed her desire to watch the film.

Through the heartfelt letter, she speaks about Neerja, her heroic efforts and the things that conspired that day. The letter reveals, “The film’s trailer brings out the intense emotions that were going on at that time. I remember everything that happened in those 48 hours and this stirred up a lot of feelings for me again.”

“Pilots were extensively trained to evacuate the aircraft for negotiating power. In 1986, terrorists didn’t know how to fly airplanes,...