Rhys Blakely | December 16, 2008
Bollywood may be famed for its relentless energy, but its rush to dramatise the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month has caused public outcry.
In the days after the strikes, in which more than 170 died, 18 film titles on the theme of "Terror at the Taj" were registered with the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association.
The first - 26/11 at Mumbai Operation - was applied for on November 28, when the Indian Army was still fighting heavily armed militant gunmen, room to room, in two luxury hotels.
The producer behind it, Vijay Verma, of Salt and Pepper Entertainment, said that his script was ready and shooting was set to begin in a matter of weeks. "What happened must be brought before the public," he said.
Few onlookers agree, however, and the unseemly haste to immortalise the attacks has had poor reviews.
Ram Gopal Verma, one of the best-known Indian directors, and his actor son were among the first people allowed inside the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where scores of people died.
"Obviously his intention was to make a film of the attacks," Komal Nahta, the publisher of The Film Street Journal, a Bollywood trade magazine, said. "And the media went at him with hammer and tongs."
The public distaste may reflect the sensationalist treatments often meted out by Bollywood. Indian cinema has a history of films that address current affairs but most dealing with terrorism have used real-life events as springboards for crudely nationalistic action movies, critics say.
"There have been many attempts to make films on terrorism but 90 per cent fall into jingoistic, partisan points of view," Piyush Jha, a director, said. "Indian films don't explore Islamic fundamentalism...India looks at things in black and white."
The titles registered after the Mumbai attacks - which include Taj Terror, Bird's Point of View of Taj Terror and 11/26 Operation Taj - have convinced many that the producers are unlikely to break new ground.
There are also doubts about whether India has the stomach for films based on an event that was beamed live into millions of homes for 60 hours. Mahesh Ramanathan, the chief operating officer for Reliance Big, one of the biggest Bollywood studios, said: "Television pushed the reality of the attacks into people's faces. They won't watch the same thing in the cinema."
There are, however, indications that Indian audiences who are more used to lavish musicals will watch films that examine terrorism from fresh perspectives.
Mr Jha's next film, Sikander, follows a Kashmiri boy who is drawn into Islamist extremism with a view to explaining how it is possible for militant groups to recruit members.
It is based on extensive research and is being billed by its producers as "a human story that will resonate with international audience".
Such films are still seen as niche titles but are growing in appeal, experts say. The most prominent film of this new wave, A Wednesday, drew critical acclaim and achieved commercial success this summer.
Neeraj Pandey, its director, said: "It's only 100 minutes long, there are no songs, it deals with a serious subject: it doesn't confirm to the mainstream perception of Hindi-language cinema." He suggested that the Mumbai attacks may foster similar projects.
Bollywood may be famed for its relentless energy, but its rush to dramatise the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month has caused public outcry.
In the days after the strikes, in which more than 170 died, 18 film titles on the theme of "Terror at the Taj" were registered with the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association.
The first - 26/11 at Mumbai Operation - was applied for on November 28, when the Indian Army was still fighting heavily armed militant gunmen, room to room, in two luxury hotels.
The producer behind it, Vijay Verma, of Salt and Pepper Entertainment, said that his script was ready and shooting was set to begin in a matter of weeks. "What happened must be brought before the public," he said.
Few onlookers agree, however, and the unseemly haste to immortalise the attacks has had poor reviews.
Ram Gopal Verma, one of the best-known Indian directors, and his actor son were among the first people allowed inside the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where scores of people died.
"Obviously his intention was to make a film of the attacks," Komal Nahta, the publisher of The Film Street Journal, a Bollywood trade magazine, said. "And the media went at him with hammer and tongs."
The public distaste may reflect the sensationalist treatments often meted out by Bollywood. Indian cinema has a history of films that address current affairs but most dealing with terrorism have used real-life events as springboards for crudely nationalistic action movies, critics say.
"There have been many attempts to make films on terrorism but 90 per cent fall into jingoistic, partisan points of view," Piyush Jha, a director, said. "Indian films don't explore Islamic fundamentalism...India looks at things in black and white."
The titles registered after the Mumbai attacks - which include Taj Terror, Bird's Point of View of Taj Terror and 11/26 Operation Taj - have convinced many that the producers are unlikely to break new ground.
There are also doubts about whether India has the stomach for films based on an event that was beamed live into millions of homes for 60 hours. Mahesh Ramanathan, the chief operating officer for Reliance Big, one of the biggest Bollywood studios, said: "Television pushed the reality of the attacks into people's faces. They won't watch the same thing in the cinema."
There are, however, indications that Indian audiences who are more used to lavish musicals will watch films that examine terrorism from fresh perspectives.
Mr Jha's next film, Sikander, follows a Kashmiri boy who is drawn into Islamist extremism with a view to explaining how it is possible for militant groups to recruit members.
It is based on extensive research and is being billed by its producers as "a human story that will resonate with international audience".
Such films are still seen as niche titles but are growing in appeal, experts say. The most prominent film of this new wave, A Wednesday, drew critical acclaim and achieved commercial success this summer.
Neeraj Pandey, its director, said: "It's only 100 minutes long, there are no songs, it deals with a serious subject: it doesn't confirm to the mainstream perception of Hindi-language cinema." He suggested that the Mumbai attacks may foster similar projects.
Source: The Australian
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