New Delhi - Filmmakers in Bollywood, India's prolific film industry based in Mumbai, have registered about 30 titles for movie projects about the November terrorist attacks, a news report said Thursday. 26 Taj, Operation 5 Star Mumbai and Bird's Point of View: Taj Terror are some of the titles that have been registered by film-makers planning movies about the attacks on luxury hotels, the city's main railway station and other targets, the IANS news agency reported.
The titles were registered with Bollywood's two producers' groups, the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Programme Producers.
The directors have gone ahead with their plans despite criticism from locals that the film industry should not be so insensitive as to cash in on the trauma and misery of the attacks.
Producer-director B Subhash, who registered two titles for Mumbai terror movies, told IANS he was going ahead with the projects irrespective of the criticism.
"As a filmmaker, my objective is to capture a contemporary event on celluloid, not to cash in on the tragic incident that claimed many innocent lives, apart from inflicting a grievous wound on the Indian psyche," Subhash said.
"Obviously, my intention is not to glorify the terrorists who laid siege to Mumbai for 60 hours amidst nail-biting suspense," he said.
Besides Subhash, about 25 filmmakers have rushed to register titles for their forthcoming ventures based on the Mumbai terrorist strikes with titles such as 26/11 Mumbai Under Terror, Nariman House, 26/11 @ Mumbai Operation, Fidayeen and Mission Taj.
There have been a number of Bollywood movies about terrorism in the recent past but locals in Mumbai have criticized attempts by filmmakers to exploit the tragedy.
Similar charges of insensitivity were made against former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh after he visited the terrorist-hit Taj Hotel with noted Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma. Deshmukh was forced to resign following the controversy.
According to reports in local news outlets, film-makers in the prolific Hindi-film industry sprung into action about a week after the attacks.
Vijay Verma of Salt and Pepper Entertainment told the Indian Express the script for his movie 26/11 @ Mumbai Operation was almost ready for production. He said he hoped to begin shooting next month and complete the film by June.
