Shot in Bombay (2008)
Director: Liz Mermin
Movie review
From Time Out London
Imagine Bruce Willis, say, facing a murder-related firearms charge then shuttling back to a film set where he’s playing a trigger-happy cop. It sounds like some high-concept movie plot, but for Bollywood royalty Sanjay Dutt, it’s real life. For the past 13 years, this Hindi film icon has been facing a jail term for holding guns at his home, linked to the underworld perpetrators of the 1993 Mumbai bombings which killed more than 250 people.
As the case reached a crucial juncture last summer, a documentary crew was on hand to follow the troubled production of ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’, where Dutt was starring as the Mumbai police’s notorious ‘Ack Ack’ Khan, recreating the 1991 incident where officers spent 1,400 rounds of ammunition eliminating a criminal gang hiding out in an apartment block.
The ironies are ripe indeed, but director Mermin doesn’t spend too much time elbowing us in the ribs, instead offering wry observation of the Bollywood movie factory at work, and fanning out to assess the local public’s evident support for shoot-to-kill law enforcement, the very different levels of justice available to rich and poor, and the long shadow cast by fugitive crimelord Dawood Ibrahim, an apparent linking factor between the bombings, police corruption and Bollywood finances.
Though lacking genuine investigative heft and with obviously limited access to Dutt himself, the result is an absolutely fascinating survey, nimbly skipping from the bubble-headed asides of ‘Shootout’s irrepressibly crass filmmaker to assess more serious human rights issues without feeling too superficial or indeed overly snooty about the infectious can-do spirit of the seasoned crew trying to create Bruckheimer spectacle on a rupee budget.
Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London Issue 1952 - January 14th 2008
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now