For its pace, energy and thriller panache, this dramatisation of the terrorist attacks that bloodied the city of Mumbai in 2008 might be admired. Still, there is something queasy about mining such fresh real-life trauma for popcorn entertainment. At times, it feels like Mission: Impossible, with its glamorous, five-star hotel setting and a ticking timebomb set piece involving a crying baby. Mostly though, it’s quite unpleasant, watching bodies torn apart by grenades and machine guns.
An ensemble piece that moves between the terrorists and the victims, in the film’s more interesting moments, it affords the terrorists (played by Amandeep Singh and Kapil Kumar Netra) small flashes of humour. Rather than cartoon villains, they are witless, brainwashed teenagers who marvel at the posh hotel’s high-end toilets. Weirdly, its straight-backed heroes (played by Dev Patel and Armie Hammer) are drawn with less nuance.
