Shutters Down

It was a curfewed day and night in Mumbai, and the terror and shock that seeped out of the besieged hotels and the bloodstained roads stunned a metropolis, one that is not known to give up.

It was a curfewed day and night in Mumbai, and the terror and shock that seeped out of the besieged hotels and the bloodstained roads stunned a metropolis, one that is not known to give up. The city shut down and the shows paused in the entertainment capital.

Most film and television shootings were stalled and actors and cine workers stayed put indoors. 8220;The Indian Idol shoot has been cancelled and so are other shoots till further notice,8221; said the spokesperson for Sony Television. Mumbai was to play host to two film premieres 8212; of Sorry Bhai and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye 8212; on Thursday, but they were canned. Director of Oye Lucky Dibaker Bannerji was in Goa for a special screening of the film and was due to return with the cast but has postponed the plan by a day. 8220;We heard about the terror strike as we were preparing to go for the afterparty. The news was shocking and a sombre mood took over the cheerfulness at the IFFI Awards,8221; he said, adding that his film8217;s premiere has been cancelled, 8220;I don8217;t care anymore about it. The safety and security of citizens is most important.8221;

Osian8217;s auction was supposed to take place at the Taj Mahal Palace 038; Tower on Thursday. Instead, the day saw commandos flushing out terrorists holed up there and the magnificent dome of the building going up in flames. Neville Tuli, chairman, Osian8217;s, said, 8220;Given the tragic circumstances in which Mumbai, the Taj, and all of us find ourselves, Osian8217;s auction has been postponed until further notice. Let us pray for those who have suffered.8221;

An evening planned to celebrate the works of the German artist Norbert Bisky too turned into a trying situation for the Mirchandani Steinrueke Gallerie, located right behind the Taj Mahal hotel. The gallery shut its doors and postponed Bisky8217;s opening night. 8220;It is really shocking that something like this can happen in Mumbai. We are all just trying to take it in,8221; says Ranjana Steinrueke of the gallery.

The gallery has flown down Bisky, his friend Stephen Goar and the art collectors Reinhard and Sabine Schlegel for the opening. Currently, the entourage is holed up in their rooms at the Taj President. 8220;Luckily, we had gone to dinner to the President just before the terrorists took over the Taj Mahal hotel. When we heard of the attacks, we booked rooms at the President. We are very lucky that we did not go up to Schlegel8217;s room at the Taj Mahal hotel,8221; says Steinrueke, who had just returned home.

8220;I found people authoritative, apathetic and not very helpful at the hotel. I was not getting a room initially at the Taj President. I had to say I was from the German press, that8217;s when we got a room,8221; says Bisky, who, however, is quite calm in the face of danger, having lived through the rule of the GDR and the Berlin wall.

Says Steinrueke: 8220;The doors at the President were blocked. They didn8217;t want us to make calls, and we had no access to TV in the lobby. It was only later when we got a room and saw the reports on TV, that we realised how grave the situation was.8221; She also informs us that Nalini Malani was also trapped in her studio, above their gallery, but a special car came to pick her up. 8220;We just got away by the skin of our teeth,8221; says Malani.