Cast: Nana Patekar and Sanjeev Jaiswal
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Rating: 2/5
A Powerful subject but not an impactful film
The terrorist attacks on November 26, 2008, that shook the minds of every heart and soul across the world, was finally showed on big screen through 'The Attacks of 26/11'. But in a very poor manner that didn't make us feel a thing.
Ram Gopal Varma had a superb plot to play with, but he just didn't take it too seriously. Unlike his previous movies, the bar on this one was kept low, but it still didn't reach the mark.
The film opens with Joint Chief Police Commissioner played by Nana Patekar (whose name is not unfolded in any part of the film) narrating the entire event.
10 childlike faces enter the most crowded place of Mumbai, the Gateway of India. They pass through the just woken up crowd who have set out to start their day. As they disperse in their respective locations, then starts the horror.
From Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel, CST Station and Cama hospital, the shooting and bombing is shown to an extent that at a point, it begins to look fake.
It shows us a city under siege, a baffled administration, and a shell-shocked police force struggling to come to terms with the ferocity and the multi-pronged face of the attack. And then comes the capture of the man who became the face of it, Ajmal Kasab (Sanjeev Jaiswal).
Compared to RGV's previous movies, 'The Attacks of 26/11' is much quieter, if a film full of chattering machine guns and cries of the dead and dying can be called that.
There are some parts that will keep you focused, as the fear keeps building up. But not for long, until the same old scene starts again.
Patekar has done an ok job, but he could have done better considering he had a very good part to play. Sanjeev Jaiswal is a new-comer and a good one at that.
The supporting casts were just puppets placed by RGV who were asked to move around when required. The filmmaker should have added more intensity and emotions to their role considering the film is a real event that took place.
The cinematography was not up to the mark. Focussing on wounded and bloody souls, angered faces of the terrorist that looked almost fake. Another chance missed to portray the real story.
RGV had to tell the world how it all happened, not what happened. Everyone knows about the attacks, but no one knows how it all started. Only if the story-line was on the basis of human instincts.
For those who still want to watch the movie, please go prepared and do not expect much.