Hotel Mumbai depicts 2008 terrorist attacks with chilling realism but not enough nuance
6 years ago

Hotel Mumbai depicts 2008 terrorist attacks with chilling realism but not enough nuance

ABC  

It's understandable that filmmakers are drawn to real-life atrocities. The 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks serve as inspiration for Australian director Anthony Maras's debut feature, the second Australian film in as many years depicting the event. The real-life atrocity involved three days of multiple attacks across the city that left over 170 dead, but in Maras's chilling thriller, shot in Adelaide and on location in Mumbai, the street-level shooting sprees soon segue into the carnage at the exclusive Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a Victorian gothic pile overlooking the city's bay. It's particularly unsettling to watch these men methodically searching hotel rooms for anyone left hiding after the initial attack, and in an early scene even shoot an elderly woman as she begs for mercy. Jason Isaacs is an enigmatic Russian gangster — a more-than-meets-the-eye figure you might find in an Agatha Christie novel — and Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher plays the hotel's Chef, one of the few characters inspired by a real life hero of the siege.

History of this topic

16 years of 26/11: A haunting reflection on Mumbai's terror attacks through pictures
3 months, 2 weeks ago
Hotel Mumbai, Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Anupam Kher film, makes Rs 6.67 cr at box office in six days
5 years, 3 months ago
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5 years, 3 months ago
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5 years, 3 months ago
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5 years, 3 months ago
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5 years, 3 months ago
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5 years, 3 months ago
Hotel Mumbai dialogues based on real phone transcripts of 26/11 attacks: Director
5 years, 4 months ago
Anupam Kher on his upcoming film Hotel Mumbai: It taught me to value humanity above all
5 years, 4 months ago
Hotel Mumbai review: Avoids white saviour territory but falls prey to too many damaging narratives
5 years, 5 months ago
Hotel Mumbai: Dev Patel's film on 26/11 fails to find distributors in India due to 'sensitive content', legal tussles
5 years, 11 months ago
Hotel Mumbai: Dev Patel's film pulled from New Zealand theatres following Christchurch terror attack
5 years, 11 months ago
Armie Hammer dons mulberry-colored jacket for Hotel Mumbai screening
6 years ago
Hotel Mumbai: Dev Patel, Armie Hammer's drama based on 26/11 attacks to release in India on 29 March
6 years ago
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6 years, 2 months ago
Remembering 26/11: Images from then and now
6 years, 3 months ago
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6 years, 3 months ago
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6 years, 6 months ago
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6 years, 6 months ago
Dev Patel, Anupam Kher’s 26/11 film Hotel Mumbai gets rave early reviews. Read them here
6 years, 6 months ago

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