The true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008. Hotel staff risk their lives to keep everyone safe as people make unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and their families. A film by Anthony Maras, starring Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Anupam Kher, and Jason Isaacs.
HOTEL MUMBAI
Anthony Maras
(2019)
On 26 November 2008, British-Iranian heiress Zahra Kashani (Nazanin Boniadi) and her American husband David (Armie Hammer), with their infant son Cameron and nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), arrive at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India. Among the day’s guests is ex-Spetznaz operative Vasili (Jason Isaacs).
Arjun (Dev Patel) lives with his wife Dimple (Adithi Kalkunte), and their young daughter. Dimple works as a washer at Dhobi Ghat, and they are expecting their second child. When Dimple’s sister doesn’t show up for babysitting their daughter, Arjun brings their daughter to the facility. Dimple explains that her sister is sick at home with the flu. After leaving his daughter there, Arjun hurries off to the Taj Hotel.
Dhobi Ghat, also known as Mahalakshmi Dhobi Ghat, is an open-air laundry place in Mumbai, India, located near the Mahalaxmi railway station in southern Mumbai. It is a massive outdoor laundry facility where clothes and linens from Mumbai’s hotels, hospitals, and other establishments are washed by hand. The washers, known as “dhobis,” work in the open to clean, scrub, dye, bleach, dry, and press clothes manually on concrete wash pens. Dhobi Ghat is a significant tourist attraction and is considered the world’s largest outdoor laundry, with over 7,000 people working there for 18 to 20 hours each day, washing around 100,000 clothes daily. The place has historical significance, dating back to its construction in 1890, and has been a central part of Mumbai’s cultural and economic landscape for over a century.
Arjun, a waiter at the Taj Hotel’s Shamiana restaurant under Head Chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher), realizes he’s lost a shoe. In his haste to get to work this morning, he didn’t notice it falling off his bag. Oberoi, spotting Arjun in slippers, promptly tells him to go home. Arjun pleads to stay, stressing his need for the job as his wife is about to give birth. Oberoi, touched by Arjun’s situation, offers him an extra pair of shoes from his own room.
That night, terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba organization launch a coordinated assault against various locations across Mumbai. The city falls into chaos. People panic and flee for their life. A group of people runs towards Taj Hotel, attempting to get inside but the security guards do not allow them. Dilip, the hotel manager decides to open the doors and let everyone in.
Among the people who enter the hotel are four Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives who slip through the doors seamlessly. Two of them circle the lobby, while the other two take positions near the second-floor balcony. Suddenly, they pull out machine guns from their bags and unleash a barrage of fire at the unsuspecting people and hotel employees in the lobby area. Witnessing the horror unfold through the restaurant’s glass door, Arjun reacts swiftly. He instructs the restaurant staff to turn off the lights and orders all the guests to stay low and take cover under the tables.
The operatives methodically circle the lobby, ensuring no one escapes before moving on to terrorize the upper floors. Two staff members hiding beneath the reception desk witness the attackers leave the lobby. Lani (Naina Sareen), thinking quickly, grabs the phone and discreetly attempts to call hotel guests room by room, urging them to stay put and promising an update when it’s safe. However, their efforts are thwarted as the terrorists begin knocking on guest room doors, posing as hotel staff or room service. The unsuspecting guests who open their doors are met with gunfire.
The news reports that Mumbai is under siege. Chaos has engulfed the city with multiple bombings and armed gunmen rampaging through the city. Inside the Taj Hotel, approximately 1,000 guests and over 500 staff members are forced to hide and barricade themselves until the help arrives. However, the local police are neither trained nor equipped to handle multiple, large-scale attacks employing military-grade weaponry. To make matters worse, Mumbai lacks a special forces unit, so the Tactical Unit must be sent in from New Delhi, over 800 miles away, meaning it could be several hours before they arrive.
Directed by Greek-Australian filmmaker Anthony Maras, HOTEL MUMBAI features a screenplay he co-wrote with John Collee. It’s inspired by Victoria Midwinter Pitt’s documentary “Surviving Mumbai,” which itself is based on the real-life tragedy of the 2008 Mumbai attacks (also known as 26/11 attacks).
On 26th November 2008, ten young Pakistani men sailed into Mumbai, India’s thriving financial heart and home of the Bollywood film industry. The men were armed with AK47s, grenades and plastic explosives, as well as satellite phones and global positioning systems connecting them to their controllers. They spread out across the city. Quick fire strikes on the Victoria Station Railway Station, the busiest train terminus in India, the legendary Leopold Café and Cama Hospital saw more than a hundred dead in only an hour. But this was just the beginning. The gunmen had come for a longer engagement, in targets chosen to grab and hold the world’s attention: the historic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, the ultra moden 5 star Oberoi-Trident Hotel and Jewish Community centre, Nariman House. Sixty hours later, the Indian security forces brought the attacks to a close. A total of 175 people died, including nine of the attackers, with more than 300 injured.
Masterfully crafted, the film is visceral and brutally realistic. Nick Remy Matthews’s incredible cinematography draws us in, creating an immersive experience as if we were there with the characters. In this harsh reality, there are no heroes to save them from the terrorists. There’s absolutely nothing they can do but hide and wait, hoping the police will arrive in time. We, the viewers, can’t help but hold our breath, gripped by an unsettling feeling throughout the film that something could go wrong at any minute.
The hotel staff exhibit exemplary heroism. Some are even willing to sacrifice themselves to protect guests they barely know, despite having families waiting for them at home. A significant portion of the hotel’s casualties are employees who chose to stay behind with the guests.
HOTEL MUMBAI is an exceptional film inspired by a real-life tragedy, showcasing the evil that exists within humanity. It also powerfully portrays the resilience of the human spirit, the enduring belief in goodness, and the unwavering will to survive, even in the face of unimaginable horror.
HOTEL MUMBAI premiered at the TIFF on 7 September 2018. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 22 March 2019, and in India on 29 November.
