Hours after the trailer release of Gully Boy – a film set in Mumbai and based on real-life incidents, the trailer of Hotel Mumbai releases. This film’s description pretty much matches that of Gully Boy. However, its content, genre and everything else couldn’t be more different.
Hotel Mumbai is about the 26/11 terror attacks, and is based on the 2009 documentary Surviving Mumbai, a movie that attempted to recreate what happened at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel on the day of attack.
Directed by the Australian director Anthony Maras, Hotel Mumbai stars Dev Patel as Arjun – a waiter at the hotel. The trailer begins with him leaving his wife and kid to go to work. At the hotel is Anupam Kher’s Hemant Oberoi, the chef who was in charge of the kitchen during the time of the attack. “Here in the Taj, guest is god,” says Kher.
Arnie Hammer, whose performance in last year’s Call Me By Your Name won him a Golden Globe nomination, features as a guest at the hotel. Once the characters are established, the trailer briskly cuts to the chase – the terror attack.
From showing their arrival at the Mumbai shores to their preparations in the loo, the modus operandi has been broken down and shown. The trailer also offers a glimpse of Ajmal Kasab’s character. It doesn’t end there, but shows them making their way through the hotel and unleashing the attack.
What then follows are nail-biting moments and a few emotional scenes.
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According to reports, Hotel Mumbai was set to be distributed by The Weinstein Company, but was later dropped following allegations of sexual assault against its head Harvey Weinstein. Subsequently, the movie was picked up by Bleecker Street for US distributions. Netflix took up distribution rights in India and Southern Asian territories.
Hotel Mumbai releases in March.
Watch the trailer of the movie here: