Hemant Oberoi: [to his staff] We should try to gather whoever we can. Many of you have families at home. There is no shame in leaving.
Butler Jamon: I have been here thirty-five years. This is my home.

Before we do the review, let’s just take a quick recap of whatever is happening in the news right now. Just a week ago, many of us were shocked by the news that a shooting attack happened in New Zealand and the gunman had filmed the whole thing live. Many of us, I’m sure, has witnessed the gruesome killing and we all pray for the souls of those who died.

The attack happened in Christ Church Mosque, stealing the lives of 50 of our Muslim friends and 50 more was left injured.

Just exactly a week after the attack, Hotel Mumbai was released. (Although the movie was pulled out and not released in New Zealand in respect for the event.) I know some of us might think it’s not important but I think the movie was released just in the perfect time.

For those who haven’t watched the movie, please do so. And of course, we will have to start this moview with a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Everything that is written is a product of a research and a news compilation. This blog is merely about an opinion from my side being and with all of my might, I sincerely pray together with the families of all the deceased in both Mumbai and New Zealand Attacks.

This blog is written to review the Hotel Mumbai movie and to talk about the recent event that happened in New Zealand. Some facts about the Taj Hotel attack will be mentioned too.

Hotel Mumbai, a movie based on the true events happened during the Taj Hotel Attack on November 2008, where approximately less than 200 people died and 300 were wounded. The coordinated attacks were planned by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,one of the largest Islamist militant organisations in South Asia, from Pakistan.

In the movie, different people were portrayed; Locals, tourists, workers and children were killed. The attack lasted for many hours, killing most of the guests staying in the hotel. Few of the hotel staffs, including Arjun (played by Dev Patel) was brave enough to plan an escape and to save lives.

Characters: Let’s change the usual routine of introducing the characters. This time, I wanted to focus on each character and whatever lesson that they have given to us.

Dev Patel as Arjun. Dev is known for his role in Slumdog Millionaire and Lion. In the movie, he is a hotel staff, a waiter. His character, Arjun, is a father of two and a husband. He’s been working for his family and for his upcoming newborn baby. The movie focused on how Arjun prepares for work and how delicately hotel staffs were screened before even serving people.

I admire the dedication he gave as a hotel staff. He had sacrifice his life to save many. In the beginning of the movie, he was scolded by the head chef for not having a footwear at work but boy, he’s lucky to not have his shoes that day, coz if not, he will end up dead just like his co-staff who was killed while serving a big party.

The reflexes of Arjun as a waiter is so damn good and being in that kind of situation, no one will ever think of keeping calm in the midst of a storm.

Anupam Kher as Hermant Oberoi, the head chef. You might see him in the Sense 8. He is known for M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story  and Rang De Basanti. Yes, he is the old man who scolded Arjun for not having the shoes and the old man who saved many lives together with Arjun. He was the one who acted as gate keeper of the chamber where the remaining alive guests stayed hidden for hours.

At the end of the movie, Arjun looked back and waited for him. When he finaly saw the head chef, he was so damn happy. I felt like Oberoi considered Arjun as his son and it was so damn heart warming.

One of the eye catcher in the movie is the family of David and Zahra, played by Armie Hammer (Gossip Girl and Call Me By Your Name) and Nazanin Boniadi (How I Met Your Mother and Homeland) a lovely couple who tried to escape death to save their new born child. It was so heartbreaking when David was killed right in front of his wife. During that time, Zahra was the only one left alive from all the hostages and Imran, one of the shooters, played by Amandeep Singh, spared her life when she started performing an Islamic prayer. At the start of the movie, Imran was the only one who showed some innocence, however, after being brainwashed and being promised that his family will live a life with plenty, he joined the terrorists, giving no mercy to the victims. But when he decided not to kill Zahra, it was his turning point.

My, my, my…let’s not forget the other casts, Sally played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey, she’s the one who held Zahra and David’s baby the whole time. It was so scary when they were left alone in the hotel room and an old woman entered only to be killed by the shooters. For the whole time, she kept the baby safe and it was just so overwhelming.

I commend the existence of the Russian Business man, Vasili, played by Jason Isaacs. In beginning, I thought he was a jerk but you know, he managed to keep Zahra calm and help her in most impossible way in such circumstances.

How about the one who said, “I have been here thirty-five years. This is my home.” Boy, I cried! He is Butler Jamon, played by Alex Pinder. It is one of the most heart wrecking part of the movie. I felt so bad when he died. I was so wishing him alive with Oberoi and Arjun. “Customers are God.” Just one of the strong lines dropped in the movie.

The Taj Hotel;

Some of the old footage from news and other platforms during the November 2008 Attack in Mumbai were used and was stitched in the movie as if it happened just yesterday. All the bits and bits of the film were about the story of the victims and how other lives were saved.

It was gruesome and it’s as if I was watching or playing in First person POV, a shooting game like counter strike or Fortnite. I had the same feeling when I watched some clips of the live video in New Zealand, it’s as if the killer doesn’t even look at them as human or anything that has life. The film was like a mirror image of the New Zealand attack but the difference only is that the Taj was attacked by a group of men.

The police forces who were there made also a part but it was saddening that it could’ve been prevented if only they have the special forces in the place because in the movie, they were only four and special forces were still in Delhi. That was the saddest reality that a country could ever face.

The Mumbai (26/11) Attack is one of the news in the history that made me so eager to become a journalist, aside from the 9/11 which I saw when I was a kid and the Manila Hostage-taking and Maguindanao Massacre. In such scenarios, I admire that existence of journalists who are in the field not thinking about their safety just to give a good story and to inform people through Mass Media.

To the Victims;

I feel helpless, watching the Hotel Mumbai. I put myself into their shoes and I had gone but think of nothing aside from the safety of my family and my loved ones. Taj Hotel is one of the tourist spots in India and to have that kind of tragedy in the middle of your visit, it’s just scary. As a traveler, myself, going to a country with a little knowledge, we expect the country to be safe and we expect to find good in all cases.

Even in New Zealand, a mosque is a place of peace for Muslims, who in the right mind would attack this sacred place.

To all the victims of terrorism, We stand with you in fighting and praying. We hope this war against humanity will stop.

To the director;

Thank you. The movie is timely. The movie was filled with terror.  The movie has opened the eyes of everyone. Victims are not alone. We stay united.

To all the victims of the Mumbai attacks, we are still remembering everyone of you.

The movie did not only teach us  about bravery, sacrifice and humanity but also, it opened our eyes to the reality that is happening in the world right at this moment.

The movie deserves a 90% wonderroanne rating. After I watched the movie, as I go out of the cinema doors, I felt fixated that I became cautious of people around. I took my recovery step by step. Every sound the people are making, every eye that looks at me; my mind was still threatened and thrilled at the same time by the movie. I stopped for a minute just to get my feet back into the reality. The movie affected me so much that I felt I was there. I felt the agony and the terror. I felt how to cry for help even at times you know no one will come. I felt how heavy the feeling is to see dead people lying on the ground and I felt the suspense of holding your own life in its last minute.

One important thing I learned in the movie is, Humanity is living in everyone, however in some, it was erased by guilt and anger, but only if you clear your mind, you’ll find it inside you.