Australian filmmaker Anthony Maras, who is known for several acclaimed and award-winning short films, especially the 2011 thriller The Palace, was blown away by the Emmy-nominated documentary Surviving Mumbai. The makers of that movie were the first on ground, shooting after the attacks happened, thus speaking to many survivors including staff and guests at the Taj Hotel. The unedited footage of the interviews was what made him develop Hotel Mumbai along with co-writer John Collee. 

The filmmaker spent over six months solely researching the film, listening to stories of the survivors. Maras says, “It all started when I watched the documentary — Surviving Mumbai. And from there we spent months in Mumbai to research. We got access to transcripts, tapes, talking to survivors. It was important to be well-versed in what happened during the attacks. Talking to people took a year. We stayed at the Taj Hotel for a month while we interviewed survivors, cops and staff of the hotel to get a real picture of the event that took place on that night.”

He says that the film is not a documentary. “It was meant to be an emotional ride that makes one feel empathy. What if I were placed in the middle of these attacks? We wanted to see more than statistics and headlines. There are perspectives of the victims,” he adds. 

Hotel Mumbai stars Dev Patel, Anupam Kher, Armie Hammer and others.
 
It’s set to release on November 29 with dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.