Monday, May 6, 2019

Hotel Mumbai


DIRECTOR: Anthony Maras  LEAD CAST: Dev patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, tilda Cobham-Hervey   PRODUCER: Basil Iwanyk, Gary Hamilton, Andrew Ogilvie, Jomon Thomas  SCREENWRITER: John Collee, Anthony Maras  BASED ON: Surviving Mumbai by Victoria Midwinter Pitt  MUSIC: Volker Bertelmann  GENRE: Suspense-Action  COUNTRY:  India 
LANGUAGE: English  RUNNING TIME: 125 minutes
Technical assessment: 3.5
Moral assessment: 3
CINEMA rating: V14
MTRCB rating: R16
It was an ordinary day’s work at for Taj Mahal Palace Hotel waiter Arjun (Patel) and chef Oberoi (Kher). As the day progresses, guests arrive. This includes Iranian-British heiress Zarah (Boniadi), her husband David (Hammer), the infant son Cameron and his nanny Sally (Cobham-Hervey) and a former Russian operative Vasili (Isaacs).  A man known as The Bull masterminds and directs his terrorist group to simutaneously attack several areas of Mumbai in the evening. This leaves the hotel helpess as the local police are not equipped to handle such situation. In the ensuing events, David and Vasili are executed by the terrorist as Arjun and Oberoi bravely guides and protects the hotel guests and helps the Special Forces to track the terrorist and end the seige.
Hotel Mumbai depicts the horrors that took place in 2008 with heart and dignity to the fallen and its hereos. The film interweaves structure, tension and drama through Maras’ direction, although at times too graphically violent for comfort. Seeing how terrorists easily kill people like swatting flies and then take a pizza break as if the former is just a slice of a day’s work transmits chilling horror. There is a noticeable dose of technical proficiency despite the formulaic presentation. Maras wastes no time to build the suspense, beginning from the very first scene as terrorists casually enter the city and blend in like casual tourists.
Sometimes, altruism comes from people whom you least expect would be willing to give up everything when they themselves have nothing. At first, we are led to believe that affluent couple Zarah and David will be the protagonists who will save others but then we realize that Arjum—who went to work shoeless—and Oberei turn out to be the ones willing to die for the sake of people they do not even know. While viewers bathe in gruesome violence scene after scene, we see two seemingly unnoticeable people bring compassion and sacrifice. Two selfless souls whose acts were enough to make us see the value of life. The violence is too intense for a young audience but the message is powerful for older and mature viewers.--PMF