‘Need to ask factual,not emotional,questions’

It was while shooting this scene that we found about the siege in Mumbai. That both the things were happening parallel was surreal. We could not have stopped shooting since we had hired the train for a limited period. One of my sound designers Nakul Kamte lost his cousin,a police officer,in the attack at Taj. However,he soldiered on despite the loss. Everyone was grim. None of us spoke about it; we had been rendered numb.

A year on,I am not sure if we are any safer. There are times when after my meetings at the Taj I take a walk around the Gateway to have a look at the harbour and I wonder if we have indeed closed our porous borders.

Truth can get stranger than fiction. Ten terrorists entered the country,entered its finest hotels and killed so many people. If I had written a script like this before 26/11,I wouldn’t have received any funding.

The 26/11 attacks proved that Indian life comes cheap. If an event of this magnitude had taken place in a country in the West,there would be an alarming amount of security everywhere. But here in India we are used to the fact that a man can fall into a pothole,injure himself and never sue the government for it. Public opinion has a short shelf-life. The next calamity,the next attack,the next scandal,the next theatre burning down – it’s just another day in the life of India. There aren’t very many cultures where karma and destiny are blamed for whatever happens.

Mumbai is famous for its spirit. But I feel we need to stop patting ourselves and take charge of the situation. The depth of the conspiracy that 26/11 was,is still unfolding as we see in the newspapers and that is what the truth is. There is a need for finger-pointing at the government because I want to know when can we finally feel safe?

We need to ask the government questions that are factual and not emotional. How many coast guards are patrolling our waters today? Does the city have an elite commando force now? Is there a greater amount of fiscal power being provided to them? Why did the safety vests fail their job during the attacks? How many new vests are being manufactured? Are they being tested before being put to use?

There are innumerable answers that the government owes us. Candlelight vigils and poetry is all okay but will that alone stop terrorists from striking the next time?