MUMBAI: After being granted limited access to the CST railway station to shoot his ambitious project based on the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, Ram Gopal Varma‘s request to film at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Colaba has been turned down.
The reason behind the non-clearance of the filmmaker‘s request is the fact that the authorities are not willing to revisit the unfortunate incident, even through a film. The hotel became the venue for a lot of bloodbath during the terrorists‘ siege on the city.
The disappointed director has revealed that after shooting some sequences at CST, he will shoot the rest of the gory and firing scenes on another set.
It may be interesting to know that Varma has instead recreated the entire lobby of the Colaba hotel at another suburban hotel in Juhu, which is currently being rented for shootings. The entire set has been created by art director Uday Singh and has cost the filmmaker Rs 2.5 crore.
"It could be traumatic for many to see the recreation of that horrible tragedy. For me, in the context of the attacks, a five-star hotel is the symbol of human achievement in terms of splendour. To see blood flowing on its polished floors and its pristine walls and artifacts there to be riddled with bullets are living testimony of the ultimate barbarism Man is capable of doing," said Mr Varma.
