The latest to join the list of films that dealt with the appalling Mumbai Taj hotel terrorist attacks is Hotel Mumbai starring Dev Patel and veteran actor Anupam Kher. The film whose Hindi trailer dropped recently has Anthony Maras helming it and Zee Studios and Purpose Entertainment bankrolling it. Hotel Mumbai talks of the tragedy from the hostages’ point of view, with Anupam Kher essaying chef Hemant Oberoi, the celebrated chef of the hotel who helped save several lives back in 2008, and Dev Patel essaying the role of a young waiter. The film was lauded at the 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 where it was first screened.
Zee Studios took to Twitter to release the trailer.
72-hour siege.1600 lives saved.
An incredible true story of bravery, courage & heroism, told from a never-seen-before lens.
Meet India’s heroes in the official trailer of #HotelMumbai: https://t.co/2oA36psPle— Zee Studios (@ZeeStudios_) October 23, 2019
The film marks Anupam Kher’s 501st movie in the industry who said in a statement, “The film celebrates the real-life heroes and how they were able to discover their own courage. Sometimes you discover your own courage in a situation like this. This film made me learn the biggest lesson of my life – to value humanity above all. It’s been 35 amazing years for me in this industry and I have had the fortune to work on such impeccable films and with equally impeccable talent. I think any actor would agree that one doesn’t count the number of movies they do. An actor is greedy for more parts, for better parts and that’s what my journey has been defined by. I’m happy this film, Hotel Mumbai is my 501st film. It’s a landmark project for me and for all those brave souls who help continue the spirit of humanity in dire times of need.”
Hemant Oberoi, a former chef at Taj who now owns his own restaurant named ‘Hemant Oberoi Restaurant’ at Mumbai, broke the Taj mandate of merely serving and pleasing customers and went on to promote himself to them. He strongly believed that guests were privileged to be able to eat his food and to meet him. On the horrific night of 26/11, he and his team of staff strived to save the lives of his guests even while their lives were at stake.
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Hotel Mumbai‘s cast includes Call Me By Your Name fame Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Suhail Nayyar, Nagesh Bhosle, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Jason Isaacs. The film is set to hit screens on 29 November 2019 in Hindi, English, Tamil, and Telugu.
Incidentally, the film has been nominated under 13 categories at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards 2019 (AACTA). Actor Nazanin Boniadi took to Twitter to express how she felt on hearing the news.
Honoured! And thrilled that my #HotelMumbai family has deservedly received 13 noms. Thanks, @AACTA! Best Feature, Direction, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supp. Actress, Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Score, Sound, Production Design, Costumes, Casting https://t.co/cuiJ1ZWuSn pic.twitter.com/YD7cjcpUsi
— Nazanin Boniadi (@NazaninBoniadi) October 22, 2019
Watch the official trailer of the film here.
Read Silverscreen‘s review of the English trailer here.
Also, read about the happenings on the night of the premiere of Hotel Mumbai at TIFF 2018 here.
