The actress was touched by a special message by Bhanot's classmates, and credited director Ram Madhvani for being the captain of the film.
Sonam took to Twitter to share an image of the tribute by one of Bhanot's classmates.
The message read: "Dear Sonam, I wonder if you will get to read this message. Your critics and colleagues will congratulate you for your performance as Neerja and I believe you will win awards and accolades in truck loads for this movie. But to us who were Neerja's classmates in school you did something much much more.
"You brought her back to life after nearly 30 years. She is now back amongst us again. And for that on behalf of the Batch 78 Bombay Scottish Aluminii, her friends and family, I thank you. Sanjit Shastri - batch of 78 Bombay".
To this, Sonam said: "Ram this is all you... Thank you for making me an honorary alumni... I humbly accept this beautiful tribute to #neerja by her pals of #bombayscottish class of '78 ... This has truly truly moved me."
"Neerja" tells the story of how Neerja lost her life while saving passengers from terrorists on board hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in September 1986.
And a special screening was organised for alumni of the Bombay Scottish School here on Friday. The film also stars Shabana Azmi and Shekhar Ravjiani.