The Attacks of 26/11

This is not an easy film to watch but it is a highly recommended one.

A group of young men get hold of a boat and disembark in Mumbai with one and only intention: to kill as many as possible. In case one wonders as to why, the quickest response would be that they were convinced that such a deed would please God and a pleasurable paradise would await them.

Once ashore they follow their mission to the last letter. Death is spread in Mumbai like virus. In a taxi, cafe, hotel, train station and hospital.

The blindness of religious indoctrination does not allow them for a single moment to think and comprehend their actions; after all they are pleasing God, or so they were convinced.

The scenes are both graphic and distressing to watch. For much of this film, I wish I had been there to warn the unsuspecting family man, the child, the female clerk all of whom died simply because they were on their path.

The theme of the film must not be misunderstood as being anti-Islam but anti-fanaticism. Religion in itself is not the problem, extremism is.

Watch it, shed tears and pray for healing and compassion.

If only acting of other characters (Nana Patekar stands out as usual) have been up to the line, this could have been a great movie. The narrative in voice of Nana Patekar is really able to bind you with each and every scene. Some of the events are overly explained and acting of Kasab (Sanjeev) disappoints. The best part of movie is where Joint Commissioner of Police and Kasab are in face to face (happens twice). In first one, RGV is able to bring out the mindset of terrorists and meaning of jihad for them, In the second one, he is able to narrate the falsehood in the theory of jihad and extremist characteristics of religion. It has bollywoodiya style of telling the story but that's OK because its not a documentary, it's a commercial cinema movie.

Why watch: If you are like thriller and action (too much gunshots, bloodshed). If you are fan of Nana Patekar's acting and RGV's movies.

Why not watch: If you like romantic and tadk-bhadak movies. If you are thinking it as documentary on 26/11 attacks.

Years passed since the terrible attacks of 26/11 that horrified Mumbai and killed hundreds of innocent people....many documentaries made, explanations given but finally Ram Gopal Verma brings 'The attacks of 26/11' and he undoubtedly brings back in our minds all the tragic events of the fateful day...

'The attacks of 26/11' focuses the beginning of the attack and the terrorists involved in it as portrayed by one man - The Joint Police Commissioner played by Nana Patekar.The film begins with invasion of terrorists through the sea and since then every attack on various places are shown, which easily unnerve any Indian watching the film. The firing is brutal,bloodshed even more terrifying as real life incident, forcing you to hate terrorism even more.The rescue mission of Taj is not shown which i believe is due to the script being more Kasab oriented.

The script is perfectly written, the background score takes this movie to another level, the direction is absolutely perfect(no silly camera cuts) and the climax makes this movie a masterpiece.

As far as acting is concerned, its Nana Patekar on one side and others on other.Nana Patekar proves why he is the best.Debutant Sanjeev Jaiswal impresses as Kasab.

This movie is not only a tribute to all those innocent victims on that fateful night, but also reveals the flawful and irresponsible security system of our country, leaving its people helpless against terrorism.

The Attacks of 26/11 (Review) - Director Ram Gopal Varma had created quite a controversy when he visited the actual site where the terror attacks had happened way back in 2008. All the observations made back then alongwith the developments since then have been put together to make "The Attacks of 26/11". The director took a very different path at the first place in publicising his movie by not releasing a trailer or a first look. He directly released the first 7 minutes of the movie and that created quite an interest about what the final product would be like. The movie clearly shows how the 10 terrorists from Pakistan made their way into Mumbai by sea by threatening and taking help of few Indian fishermen. What transpired after the terrorists came into Mumbai is one of the dark chapters that the world witnessed. The level of crime and offence that was inflicted by the terrorists on Mumbai and its people were as horrendous as it could get. Ram Gopal Varma has done a lot of home work as he manages to recreate all the scenes that occurred at Leopold Cafe, The Taj, Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus etc.. very well on screen. The performances of the actors stand out in a couple of scenes, one such scene wherein a constable sitting and crying helplessly amidst the dead bodies at the CST. Nana Patekar as the Joint Commissioner of Police plays his role to perfection. In fact, it is his statements about the incidents around which the movie revolves. His performance in the scene where he tells Kasab as to what Islam really is, with controlled aggression, is praiseworthy. Not much importance has been given to the NSG commandos who played a huge role in fighting the terrorists apart from a couple of mentions here and there. Sanjeev Jaiswal who plays Kasab has done a decent job with his performance. He fits the role perfectly and also resembles Kasab a lot. The cinematography is good in a couple of sequences. As much praiseworthy as the performances are, the same cannot be said about the screenplay. Even though the run time of 2 Hours of the movie does not bore you at any instant, it is definitely not as hard hitting or as satisfying as it deserved to be. It just lacks that zing that would have otherwise given you a satisfying watch. All said and done, Ram Gopal Varma's "The Attacks of 26/11" may not be a must watch as expected but it is definitely nothing short of "worth a watch". The movie can certainly be considered a tribute to all those innocent ones who lost their lives in these horrendous sequence of events and apart from the movie, a big SALUTE to all those from the armed forces who fought against terrorism. My verdict - 6/10.

Attacks of 26/11 review:

This one has the look and feel of a special episode of TV series "Crime Patrol". But no, it is a Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) film so you get his standard close up shots and overloud background score. Thankfully, the director goes easy on his crazy camera angles this time. Nana Patekar is superbly restraint in a role modelled on Rakesh Maria. And Sanjeev Jaiswal resembles the terrorist Kasab quite closely.

Overall, a watchable film and coming from RGV after his multiple duds, thats quite an achievement!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.