26/11: A tale of terror

Not many people know that Rakesh Maria, the then Joint Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, had returned home early on the fateful night of 26/11/2008 ���because there was nothing happening in the city.��� Little did he know it was just the lull before the storm. One of the most shocking terrorist attacks ever perpetrated would rock the nation in a matter of hours. Rakesh was in the shower when he heard all three of his phones (hotline, wireless and official) ring together ��� something that never happened before. What���s even more incredible is that the first principal eye-witness to have identified Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was a 9-year-old girl who���d seen him before the attacks even started at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Ram Gopal Varma���s film, The Attacks of 26/11 (26/11 India Pai Daadi) is full of such little-known insights into the Mumbai terror attacks. ���No matter how much you���ve read and heard about the attacks, there are a lot of such things that many people do not know. The film will offer a ringside view of what happened that night,��� shares RGV.Admitting ���it is impossible for an incident of that scale to be captured in a two-hour film���, RGV says he is seeking to narrate the human drama of the people involved in the ghastly incidents that unfolded that night. ���It is not a thrill-a-minute action movie. I chose to tell the story through the emotional accounts of policemen, civilians and victims, and tried to be true to them,��� he adds.The filmmakers are planning to release the movie in 16 Indian languages, besides Telugu. ���This story belongs to everyone and they would be interested to know what happened in one of the largest ever terror attacks in the world,��� says RGV. The Telugu version is being produced by Kantha Rao, who is also distributing the Hindi version in AP.26/11 India Pai Daadi, produced under the Indus Inspirations banner, is releasing on March 1.