Greek Australian director Anthony Maras’ debut feature, Hotel Mumbai is the story of how a group of hotel guests bandied together with staff to survive a terrorist attack which took place in India in 2008.
In one of the early scenes of Maras’ gripping film, which recreates the siege which took place in the Taj Hotel, a woman comes face to face with a gunman in one of the rooms. As she is held at gun point she pleads for her life and says in Greek, ‘please my boy don’t do this.’
The Greek Australian director told Neos Kosmos he included a Greek character in the film after he discovered that people of Greek and Greek Cypriot heritage were caught up in the Mumbai attacks.
“We didn’t go into detail of guests with Greek heritage, but hearing their stories still had a profound effect on me,” Maras said from his base in Los Angeles. “The people caught up in the siege on the Taj came from many different countries, ethnicities and religious backgrounds. The way they came together to help one another survive the darkest of times was incredibly moving.”
Much of Hotel Mumbai focuses on how the Lashkar-e-Taiba militants rendered most of the hotel into a death trap as they went through rooms hunting down staff and guests. The film shows how those caught in the turmoil fought to stay alive with Maras focusing on the critical role the Taj employees played in risking their lives to save the hotel’s clients.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVQpbp54ljA
One of the staff was played by Oscar nominated British actor Dev Patel – who represents the ethos of the Taj – that “Guest is God.”
“Dev’s character Arjun is based on a number of staff members that we met and interviewed,” he said. “Arjun faces a dilemma many of his fellow co-workers did. He simply wanted to get back home to his wife and family, but he also feels a deep sense of responsibility to his guests and fellow workers.”
Filmed as docudrama what makes Hotel Mumbai an intense experience is the depiction it offers of the gunmen. As well as the guests and the staff, you also see the film from their view point and as the story progresses you realise they are uneducated, impoverished young men that are led by extremists.
“At no time did I ever want to absolve the Mumbai attackers of their actions,” Maras said.
“In relation to the gunmen, the film attempts to explore the why. How is it that people get to the point that they are willing to commit these kinds of acts? In the case of the Mumbai attacks, there was an ideology that drove them. Men who were coordinating and controlling these attacks from afar.”
During the Mumbai attacks that lasted four days at least 174 people died, including 9 attackers, with more than 300 wounded. Maras revealed he went into his debut feature looking to honour those who did and didn’t survive the attacks.
“More than anything you feel a sense of responsibility to those who were victims of the attacks and those who are still living with the effects,” he said.
“One of the key things driving us was a commitment to authenticity. To explore the themes we were tackling honestly.”
