The Attacks of 26/11

Long time after Sarkar, RGV has made, not great but, a movie which will hold you tightly to your seat with a sequence of shocking, painful, disturbing but true events.

Based on the facts disclosed by Rakesh Maria (then Joint Commissioner of Police, Mumbai Police. Now Chief of Anti Terrorist Squad, Maharashtra) to Investigation Committee regarding the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai, story is narrated by Nana Patekar who played the role of Rakesh Maria. Nana as usual has given an outstanding performance but other characters in movie lacked badly the acting skills. Sajeev Jaiswal, as Ajmal Kasab, was undoubtedly a good choice to play the role but overacted in a sequence where he was interrogated by Nana. The scene where Nana as police officer takes Ajmal to mortuary and shows the dead bodies of others terrorists is the most outstanding scene of the movie with marvellous dialogue delivery by Nana. RGV also tried smartly to infuse some moral dialogues to avoid hurting any religious sentiments and conveyed a message that terrorism is just a product of some ruthless insane minds and not of any community or religion.

The script lacked some deep emotions. It was all about killing and butchering of people all over the city. Audience would have liked to know something more about the terrorists and reason behind making them into such killing machines.

It's highly recommended to watch this movie only if you are interested to know the truth and mentally prepared to see enormous bloodshed, others should know that this is not one that can be enjoyed with popcorn.

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.

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.

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.

Any story based on real-life events can only connect if it has a soul thereby making an instant connect with the audience. In the case of "The Attacks of 26/11" only after Kasab is captured the human side begins to surface. Until this point in time, the entire proceedings seem to be a documentary devoid of any emotion what so ever. If the writer/ director would have addressed this right from the first frame "The Attacks of 26/11" would have been a different experience altogether.

Sanjeev Jaiswal as Kasab is first class. Delivers a master-piece performance. Atul Kulkarni was wasted in a minuscule role and perhaps warranted better footage. Nana Patekar comes alive only after the capture of Kasab and is a treat to watch him portray the Joint Police Comissioner. Pre-dominantly "The Attacks of 26/11" appears to Rakesh Maria's version of what happened back then.

Yes, its a great attempt but could have been definitely better.