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.
