This Friday, the 1st of March 2013, finally the long awaited Ram Gopal Varma crime thriller ‘The Attacks of 26/11’ was released. The movie stars Nana Patekar as The Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police – (Rakesh Maria), Sanjeev Jaiswal who plays Kasab, Atul Kulkari, Ravi Kale, Ganesh Yadav and Farzad Jehani – the owner of Leopold Cafe (who plays himself) in the main roles.
A heart wrenching portrayal of the gruesome attacks in Mumbai on the 26th of November 2008. Ram Gopal Varma famous for a few flops earlier has done a good job with this one, but somehow a little more was expected out of him. He takes us through the journey and makes us relive the time as if we were seeing it actually happen. There are many a scenes which give you goosebumps. The shrill of the baby crying next to his dead mother stays with you for a long time.
The movie begins with Nana Patekar speaking in front the inquiry commission and he has done full justice to his role. He has not acted but felt every moment in the movie. One of the best shots is when the two boats collide in the beginning, such amazing spine chilling suspense is created that, it grips you in the first ten minutes. Then the shooting starts and blood flows everywhere – from the Leopold Café, The Taj Mahal Hotel, V.T. Station to Cama Hospital. A fast moving movie keeps you on the edge all the time. Then it shifts to the story of Ajmal Kasab the lone attacker who was captured alive and hanged later.
Varma has portrayed the Mumbai Police as so incompetent in many a scenes that it angers you. They are shown with lathis, throwing stones which is so ridiculous. They carry ancient bolt action rifles and the attackers have assault rifles with high tech ammunition. Though by the end he salutes their spirit and makes them heroes. The sets and locations are superb. The mighty expensive Taj Hotel set made for this movie is so real.
Sanjeev Jaiswal is hated for his role which means he has done it very well. At times he went overboard but he is very convincingly Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab. The only flaw lies in his make up after he is captured. The dead bodies look painted and stuffed in some scenes.
The movie finely weaves in a few songs which actually you do not notice except one ‘Maula Maula‘ as one is so engrossed in the action packed crime thriller that the songs just go by. The background score tells us that yes, this is a Ram Gopal Varma movie.
A compelling movie which grips you but should have been much more.
