The horrifying incident of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which is well known as 26/11 was a tragic incident which has gone down in history as one of the worst and biggest terrorist attacks to ever take place.
It has been 15 years now, and while India is moving on from that nightmare it has left scars that have never fully healed. Carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists, the attacks went on for three days with the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus being the biggest targets.
Over 175 people were killed in this attack and over 300 injured. Over the years many storytellers have presented the story of these attacks from different aspects. Some have presented the story from the victims' point of view, some from the medical fraternity, the NSG commandos to the planning of the attacks.
1. ‘Major’: Directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka and written by its lead actor Adivi Shesh, this tri-lingual film from 2022 is a must watch. Telling the story of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a soldier in the Indian Army and later the team commander of the NSG (National Security Guard) commandos who participated in taking down the terrorists, the movie tells the gut-wrenching story of how the great soldier laid down his life fighting the terrorists.
The film apart from Adivi Sesh stars Prakash Raj, Sobhita Dhulipala, Murali Sharma, Saiee Manjrekar, and Revathi among others.
2. ‘The Attacks of 26/11’: Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the movie despite its very positive reception by audiences and critics alike is also notorious for going into meticulous bloody details about the carnage that unfolded.
Playing partially like a documentary, the movie did not have any filmy appeal as such but told the story very accurately to the point that it almost scratched the old wounds. Starring Nana Patekar, Sanjeev Jaiswal, Atul Kulkarni, and Jitendra Joshi, among others, the 2013 film is a very dark and realistically grisly watch, but one worth watching.
3. ‘Hotel Mumbai’: The Hollywood film directed by Anthony Maras tells the story of the Taj hotel staff and how they risked their lives selflessly to ensure the survivors of the guests. Though it does take some liberties with the details, the film is largely on-point and strikes at the heartstrings.
One of the biggest heroes of this whole tragedy is General Manager Karambir Kang who lost his family, but continued with his duties. The 2018 film stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Anupam Kher, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda Cobham Hervey, Jason Isaacs, Suhail Nayyar, and Vipoin Sharma in the lead roles.
4. ‘Mumbai Diaries’: This engaging thriller series created and co-directed by Nikkhil Advani alongside Nikhil Gonsalves, tells the story of the attacks from a different angle in its first season.
A medical-thriller-drama so to speak, the first season narrates the story of the medical staff of Mumbai General Hospital, as well as the journalists who reported these events.
The series stars Mohit Raina, Konkona Sen Sharma, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Satyajeey Dubey, Shreya Dhnwanthary, Natasha Bharadwaj, and Tine Desai in pivotal roles.
5. 'Taj Mahal': This 2015 French-Belgian thriller film may perhaps be the most unknown film to be based on the attacks. Narrating a more fictionalised, but nonetheless realistic tale, the story follows a French teenage girl staying at the hotel when the attacks happened.
A story of survival against horrifically unfavourable odds, this finds its protagonist Stacy trying to stay alive until the NSG squad and the Mumbai police are able to handle the situation.
While the movie was critiqued for its neo-realistic and non-serious tone, the claustrophobic environment of the production, as well as the acting received praise, leading to mixed reception.
Directed, written by Nicolas Saada, the film stars Stacy Martin, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Gina McKee, Alba Rohrwacher, Fred Epaud, Praveena Vivekananthan in lead roles.