Ram Gopal Varma to unveil first look in front of policemen, survivors from 26/11

On 23 November the intrepid Ram Gopal Varma will show 15 minutes of his film on the ghastly 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai in 2008. Present at the unveiling of what promises to be another controversial RGV film would be people closely linked to the incident that shook Mumbai. Says Ramu, “That’s right. We’re are inviting the policemen who were involved in those attacks and the immediate survivors for the first-look launch on 23 November. I did this film after extensive research and after having conducted in-depth interviews with not only the involved policemen but also with the survivors and many others both directly and indirectly connected to those incidents.” In his characteristically unfazed manner Ramu seems unaware that the screening of the first-look of a film on an incident that shook Mumbai city so close to the date when it happened four years ago, could open up old wounds that would never heal, and also cause new a new hurt and resentment among Mumbaikars . Says the filmmaker, “The terrorist attacks of 26/11 were probably the most horrific happenings in post independence India and the intention of the film is to truthfully portray the emotional aspects of those tragic moments. So it's nothing to do with the launch date being near or far to the anniversary date but it is to do with the true intent of making this film. I am showing a 15-minute sequence of the opening which will clearly establish the purpose and the intent of why a film on this subject has been made.” Ramu says he is sure the policemen and survivors from the 26/11 attack would empathize with his intentions once they see what he has done. “Never in the history of the world were there more terrifying attacks than those that happened on 9/11 in New York. But considering the sheer audacity of their execution I felt the attacks of 26/11 on Mumbai were far more shocking.” In the film Ramu has shown the exact sequence of events on that horrific night. “Many of us know of the attacks which happened that night but very few of us have a knowledge of how they happened and that is exactly what we felt should be known to everyone in the world and hence we decided to make this film both for the Indian and international audiences.” The cast, says Ramu, is composed mostly of unknown actors. “The cast is completely new along with some known actors. But the known actors were taken for their acting talent rather than their existing image.”