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Hotel Mumbai Finally Releases in India
Hotel Mumbai: A Story of Courage, Hope and Survival
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]otel Mumbai is so much more than a film – it is a nightmare brought to life. You sit in your seat reliving the horror of this real event which blasted the city of Mumbai in 2008 when terrorists seized the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel and several other key locations, holding the people in India – and the world – hostage, all watching with bated breath as the horrendous drama unfolded.
I dreaded watching this film because it was so close to home – and yet amazingly one comes out of the theater not despairing but uplifted, applauding the human spirit, the bravery and the compassion which seeps through the film.
Hotel Mumbai which stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda Cabham-Hervery, Anupam Kher and Jason Isaacs is all about how some human beings rise to the best in their nature when they are surrounded by evil.
[dropcap]D[/dropcap]ev Patel plays Arjun, a simple Sikh waiter from the slums who leaves his wife and young family to serve and protect the hotel guests with his life. The guiding spirit of this ragged army of hotel staff is the noted chef Hemant Oberoi, played with spunk, strength and intelligence by Anupam Kher; to him the guest is God and he does everything to safeguard them, always with logic and compassion. It is a masterly performance and Kher conveys the courage and depth to which ordinary men are capable of rising to when flung into extraordinary situations.
The film brings the night of horrors alive with an excellent ensemble cast who infilterate their characters sowell that there is no distance between acting and living their lives. Each one made you believe in the surreal happenings and the darkness of unfolding events. Boniadi, especially, has a powerful encounter with the terrorists which leaves you as stressed as if you were in the room yourself.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nthony Maras directs this drama as a frenetic cat and mouse thriller which keeps you on the edge of your seat. It takes you into the warped minds of these young terrorists and you see their bleak childhoods and their fanatical indoctrination which has made them into automated killing machines.
When you leave the theater, you are shaken. Around you lies a beautiful, devastated land, so many lost lives and ended dreams. And yet there is spunk and spirit. You leave with hope, with some comfort – even in the midst of mind-blowing evil, there is real heroism and sacrifice, love and compassion. And that is what we must embrace – our better natures, the triumph of humanity.
Hotel Mumbai is a bold, courageous film about the nexus of good and evil in real life – and kudos to the producers who chose to ignore box office returns and tackle this difficult and unpopular subject. They remind us of truths we must never forget.
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