The fight for authenticity

It’s an unnerving experience to be in a film like Hotel Mumbai, where a large portion of the film is set amidst the unrest of November 26, 2008, when the Taj Mahal Palace was under siege after 10 gunmen began shooting guests in the hotel.  Director Anthony Maras’ rendition of the story is a celebration of courage.

To ensure that he extracts a wholesome performance from his actors, he kept the unit on their toes while shooting for the difficult portions. Anthony used to play those gunshots in between the scenes where he wanted the actors to get into the skin of the role. To to give the audience a feel of that night, he took the prep a step ahead by replicating the series of events in the hotel. It’s almost like a firsthand account of the fateful night, and the director took great pain to ensure that the film is authentic and sensitive in every sense of the term.