Bollywood producers vie for Mumbai terror movie

No sooner had the Nov. 26 Mumbai attacks ceased and families buried their dead than film makers began queuing up to register titles for movies based on last month's events in an effort to capture the momentous attacks on the Bollywood screen.

Some 20-25 proposals of registration of titles on the Mumbai terror attacks vie for the approval of the India Motion Pictures and Producers' Association (IMPPA), responsible for registering Hindi films in Mumbai.

"Operation Five Star Mumbai," "Taj Terror", "26/11- Mumbai under Terror," and "Shootout at Oberoi" are some of the titles film makers are proposing for the terror feature film according to the BBC online.

Sushma Shiromanee vice president of (IMPPA) told PTI News in India that several film makers like B Subhash, Akash Sehgal and Vijay Verma applied for titles related to the Mumbai attacks however not all registered by film makers or producers are actually made into film.

"When titles are registered, we do not know whether film-makers will commercially cash on the tragedy or make a sensitive film on the effect the tragedy has on the lives of the people. It is up to the filmmakers to decide how they present the subject," he told PTI.

Controversial

 It is an attempt to exploit the misery of people.  

Aand Patwardhan documentary film-maker

Films featuring terror have become popular in recent years in India with films like Mumbai Meri Jaan (Mumbai my love), A Wednesday and Shoot on Sight, an English film covering the lives of people in the wake of the July 7 London bombings. The movie was featured in the 32nd Cairo International Film Festival.

Yet several film producers argue that rushing to make movies out of Mumbai terror attacks, which are still fresh in the minds of people, is bad taste.

"It is an attempt to exploit the misery of people," Aand Patwardhan documentary film-maker told the BBC online.

Producer-director Vikram Bhatt agrees with Patwardhan.

"It's a bad script. It's an episode of defeat. Who would want to watch it as everything ended on a sad note," Bhatt told IANS, an Indian news agency.

However others in the movie business say that the Mumbai terror attacks with its hostages, gunmen, deaths and rescue, are film worthy because of the different perspectives and angles from which the tragic event can be handled.

"It should show how a random act of violence changes people's lives, how serendipity in adverse circumstances brings people together. I feel that an incident such as the Mumbai attack can offer an insight into the human psyche," Jug Mundra, director of Shoot on Sight told the BBC online.