Hotel Mumbai Analysis – Dramatizing Tragedy

How soon is too soon? There’s no good answer when it comes to tragedy, as it operates on a case by case basis. When preparing for this screenplay analysis, I came across a small handful of negative reviews which condemned Hotel Mumbai for ‘mining real-life trauma for entertainment’. I looked at this critic’s profile and found Titanic and Munich amongst their favorites. Now – maybe they can argue that 85 and 33 years respectively gives enough distance for the trauma to heal… but if a 10 year departure is too much, where is the line drawn? 

Today we’re covering Hotel Mumbai to assess how to handle depicting real-life tragedy in a manner that doesn’t feel exploitative. Based on a screenplay by John Collee and Anthony Maras, the story is based on the true events of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, with particular focus on the siege of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. In preparing to write, Collee and Maras studied the 2009 documentary Surviving Mumbai (2009) and mined survivor testimonies to construct the basis of the script, managing to capture a wide range of perspectives. 

The narrative unfolds through various perspectives: guests, staff, and attackers alike, resulting in an immersive realism. It doesn’t sensationalise tragedy, it depicts everyday heroism in the face of terror while treating every character as just a person, rather than an anthropomorphized creed. 

OPENING IMAGE

After establishing this story is based on real events, the screenplay introduces Imran, one of several young Pakistani men arriving in Mumbai, 2008. Their purpose soon becomes unmistakable – violence sanctioned by their remote handler, known as ‘the Bull.’

They launch a brutal attack on the crowded Chhatrapati Station. Through this snapshot of senseless violence and zealotry, the screenplay swiftly defines its tone, scope, and moral landscape.

SET UP

Amid the gunfire are Bree and Eddie, Australian backpackers who escape unscathed but terrified. In shock, they flee the burning Chhatrapati Station and seek refuge at the Taj Hotel.

Next, we’re introduced to Arjun, a local Hindu man who leaves his family in the slums of Colaba harbour to work a shift in the hotel. 

Also arriving are American guest David and his wife Zahra, a ‘Swiss-educated Persian heiress’, accompanied by their nanny Sally and infant son. The opulent lobby, lined with photos of celebrity guests, communicates the Taj’s prestige and exclusivity. A butler caters to their every whim, and books them a table at one of the hotel’s acclaimed restaurants.

Before starting their shift, Arjun and the other staff undergo a meticulous inspection for grooming and presentation. When one waiter is dismissed for falling short, Arjun eagerly steps in to claim the open position.

In the kitchens, we meet Oberoi, the celebrity chef managing the massive operation that serves all twelve of the hotel’s restaurants. Known for demanding absolute efficiency and respect, he oversees every detail. Arjun earns a promotion to table service.

As David and Zahra are seated, Arjun waits on Vasili, a misogynistic Russian businessman. When news of the station attack reaches Zahra, Arjun calmly reassures her – ‘This is the Taj Hotel, madam. You’re perfectly safe here.’

INCITING INCIDENT

They are far from safe. When gunmen strike a nearby café, injured and terrified survivors – including Bree and Eddie – flood the hotel. The surge overwhelms security, allowing Imran (and accomplices Houssan and Abdullah), to slip into the lobby unnoticed.

Eddie and Bree attempt to book a room, just for some safety and respite, but are rejected by the overwhelmed reception.

At that moment, the terrorists open fire, separating the backpackers. 

DEBATE

Arjun witnesses the massacre and must abandon his professional composure, warning guests and dimming the lights in a desperate attempt to protect them. David and Zahra panic, separated from their baby, who is upstairs with a completely oblivious Sally. Arjun struggles to keep everyone silent and still, which successfully causes gunman Abdullah to mistake the restaurant as empty. ‘The Bull’ orders him to sweep through the hotel, eliminating guests quickly and ruthlessly.

Houssam and Imran move from room to room, posing as room service before gunning down anyone who answers. When Sally hears a knock, she’s about to open the door until David’s call interrupts her. For a tense moment, it seems she’ll be the next victim—but instead, a wounded woman stumbles in and hides in the bathroom. Realizing the danger, Sally clutches the crying baby and hides in a closet.

A harrowing silence follows as Imran and Houssam search the suite, ultimately discovering and executing the hidden woman. The baby (who is confusingly written as both crying and sleeping) begins to cry, and Sally fights to stifle the sound, desperate not to reveal their hiding place.

The debate now centres around the conflict arising from David and Zahra’s desire to reach their baby, even though leaving the restaurant could expose dozens of hidden guests. Torn between family and survival, David entrusts Zahra’s safety to Vasili before setting out. 

David pleads with Arjun to let him go, invoking their shared bond as fathers. Reluctantly, Arjun agrees, uncertain whether he’s just condemned David, the guests, or everyone.

BREAK INTO TWO 

As we enter Act Two, we’re still juggling various characters in a variety of situations: 

Arjun’s promotion extends beyond table service. He now must keep the wealthy, demanding – and occasionally intoxicated – guests quiet and hidden within the restaurant. 

David must navigate the hotel, evading the attackers, to reach Sally and his child upstairs.

Imran and his accomplices move methodically up the hotel, killing guests on the Bull’s orders, racing against time before police – distracted by other attack sites – can intervene.

FUN AND GAMES

Meanwhile, Chef Oberoi plans a daring escape through the service stairs, rallying a motley crew of staff armed with cleavers and kitchen tools.

In the restaurant, Vasili urges Zahra to wear a headscarf and speak Farsi to appear more Muslim, but she refuses to conform. Arjun returns to the restaurant with mixed news: Oberoi has found an escape route, but the police are waiting for the Army’s arrival, delaying any chance of rescue. 

As Arjun leads the restaurant guests toward the service stairs, a drunken MP goes rogue and is shot. They press on to the Chambers Club – the hotel’s most defensible space – where Oberoi and Arjun reunite and barricade themselves inside.

David reaches the room, where Sally is unharmed but hysterical. Any suspicions that their relationship goes beyond professional are confirmed when she tries to kiss him. When rejected, she becomes reflective. 

On the streets, we meet PC Patil, the hapless officer in charge of an overstretched police force. He finds Eddie, frantic that Bree remains inside. Joining Patil is Raj, who has gathered a ragtag team of beat cops willing to storm the hotel.

They courageously enter, aiming for the CCTV room to relay intelligence to the awaiting army. Almost immediately, they catch a grenade, killing many.

The Chambers Club crew has been waiting for two hours. Some doze, while Oberoi works overtime to keep nerves in check. Zahra calls her mother in New York. They speak Farsi, drawing wary glances from the other guests.

Soon, more hotel staff and scattered survivors arrive – including Bree, shot in the shoulder and tended only by an ophthalmologist. Her cries worry the others, who fear they’ll draw the attackers’ attention. Rumors spread that the gunmen are planting bombs and blocking exits.

Arjun volunteers to smuggle Bree out of the hotel upon learning she’s bleeding into her lungs. As a bonus, if he successfully finds a way out, Oberoi can guide the other guests out too. 

On the stairs, Arjun encounters Raj and Patil, and they speak in Hindi about the CCTV room’s location. Disoriented from blood loss, Bree mistakes the police for terrorists and bolts – straight into the gunmen’s line of fire. 

While inspecting Bree’s body, Imran spots David sneaking down the corridor. Before being caught, David hides Sally and the baby in another closet. Rather than kill him, Imran binds David and reports to the Bull that he’s captured ‘rich hostages’.

MIDPOINT

At the midpoint, Patil and Raj reach the CCTV room, gaining an iota of control amid the chaos. It’s a small victory, but any sense of relief feels hollow. This checkpoint allows for a moment of reflection, a meditation on what they’ve endured and what lies ahead. Arjun faces the haunting images of guests he couldn’t save and the gunmen still roaming his hotel.

BAD TO WORSE

In the Chambers Club, a drunken Vasili still has the presence of mind to question the ‘police’ knocking at the door. Oberoi contacts Arjun in the CCTV room, who can see the supposed officer is actually Abdullah, trying to force his way inside.

Abdullah opens fire on the door, now certain people are hiding inside. Raj and Patil, down to only a few remaining bullets, race to stop him from breaking through. Gunfire erupts as Imran and Houssam join Abdullah; Imran is shot in the leg. The overwhelmed officers flee. In the Chambers, rumors of police arrival spark cheers, but Patil and Raj have fled seeking medical aid.

Imran begins doubting the righteousness of their mission, perhaps spurred by his blood loss. He calls his father, doubting the Bull’s pledge of twenty thousand for his family. David hears him breaking down in tears. Though he can’t understand the words, David grasps Imran’s torment.

After her fifteenth unanswered text to David, Zahra grows frantic and tries to force her way out of the Chambers despite Oberoi’s pleas. Her panic begins to influence the other guests, dividing them. 

Vasili leads six residents attempting to flee toward the East Wing. One is killed instantly, and four – including Vasili and Zahra – are captured. In a grim twist, Zahra and David are reunited, bound and lying on the floor. David pretends not to know her for her protection, which doesn’t help putting her at ease. Neither knows the fate of their son. 

The wait for the Army feels endless. Following the Bull’s orders, Houssam inspects the hostages, gauging their worth. Discovering scars and tattoos across Vasili’s body, they deduce his turbulent past. The Bull identifies their shared history and commands Abdullah to shatter Vasili’s hip.

BREAK INTO THREE

The terrorists sweep through the corridors, igniting turpentine-smeared walls and turning the hotel into a blazing inferno. From the CCTV room, Arjun spots the fire first and sounds the alarm, watching wedding guests flee their smoke-filled suite toward the ambushed exits.

Arjun faces another moral dilemma: stay in the CCTV center, guiding efforts for maximum impact, or rush to rescue the fleeing guests. In moments like this, Oberoi’s words echo in his mind: “The guest is God.”

FINALE

Arjun intercepts the group, steering them toward the Chambers while struggling to convince them he’s not a threat. Fearing suffocation, Sally joins the passing wedding party with the baby, blending in to stay safe.

As the hotel burns, the remaining Chambers guests grow hostile toward Oberoi, feeling trapped. When Arjun arrives with the wedding party, tensions flare – like crabs in a bucket, the original guests resist sharing their refuge.

With tempers flaring and the crying baby risking exposure, Oberoi decides to mobilize the group out of the Chambers. Like a team of John McClanes, they remove their shoes to move as quietly as possible.

From the floor of the hostage room, David, Zahra, and Vasili notice Imran nodding off, exhausted by waning adrenaline, sleep deprivation, and blood loss. David manages to free himself. Zahra warns against acting, while Vasili urges him to trust his instincts.

Then he’s cut down – surely fatal – a shocking reminder that a protagonist or key POV character isn’t guaranteed survival. Imran answers the phone; the Bull reports hundreds of guests are escaping and orders the hostages be eliminated.

Oberoi continues freeing the guests, but we learn that the Bull has alerted his men to their whereabouts. Every second counts… 

Imran begins executing the hostages. Zahra pleads with him. David is briefly spared when Vasili bites Imran from the ground – but only for an instant. David and Vasili are executed.

Witnessing her husband’s murder, Zahra turns to her long-abandoned faith, praying for David and her family. Imran falters, confronted by a reflection of his own beliefs in someone he’s been told is an infidel. The Bull orders her killed anyway, deepening Imran’s doubts about the ideology that radicalized him. He spares her. 

Evacuation continues as guests climb from windows on makeshift ropes, navigate blindly through smoke, or form human chains. Zahra slips free from her bindings and sets out to find her son.

Oberoi is evacuating the last guests from the Chambers when Houssan catches up to him at the rear exit. Like a captain, he’s ready to go down with the ship if needs be. Gunmen pursue him down the stairs, massacring his kitchen staff. Still, most guests reach safety; Arjun ensures Sally and the baby make it outside, while Special Forces enter the building the same way. Abdullah and Houssam flee back into the bowels of the hotel. 

Zahra continues searching for her son in room 415, his last known location. Overcome by smoke and losing hope, she calls her mother in New York. Her mother finds the hotel’s floor plans online and guides Zahra toward safety.

Imran accepts his fate, disillusioned and aware he’s failed the Bull’s goals. He walks willingly into Special Forces’ gunfire. Houssam and Abdullah anticipate the Bull’s next directive, only to realize he expects them to die here. In their final moments, they too confront the futility of it all.

Raj and Patil are hailed as heroes, while Oberoi feels hollow despite being celebrated. Zahra frantically scans the crowd and finally finds Sally with the baby, and they share their grief.

CLOSING IMAGE

Arjun rides home through the city on his motorbike, tears streaming. Reunited with his wife and daughter, he feels a deep, renewed gratitude.

CONCLUSION 

Hotel Mumbai succeeds where others fail because it focuses on flawed human characters making courageous decisions and exhibiting resilience, rather than serving up a moral lesson on why this shouldn’t have happened. It juggles characters of all creeds and depicts them as individuals rather than representatives of any faith or doctrine, even giving many of them arcs in the limited timeframe. Both the screenplay and the final film utilize archival footage to frequently remind us that this isn’t a fanciful tale, it really happened. 

The screenplay’s key advantage over the finished film is its use of the spreading fire as a ticking clock in the third act, generating urgency amid narrative stillness. While Arjun is confined to the CCTV room and David / Zahra are bound as hostages, Oberoi drives the action – but his continued evacuation heroics feel repetitive after forty pages.

Some Act 3 beats feel unearned – David and Zahra escape their restraints simply because the plot requires it, and Zahra’s mother accessing the hotel floorplans feels like a narrative shortcut. These moments lack proper setup or payoff. It may feel lazy, but if we established that the couple were escapologists or contortionists, or if Zahra’s mother were a conservation architect, these payoffs would at least feel justified. 

In conclusion, the script deftly balances multiple characters, tackling sensitive material without preachiness or a Western gaze, while sustaining strong momentum. Though some characters could use deeper development – its ensemble evokes The White Lotus, albeit with less time to breathe – they remain layered enough to elevate the film beyond anonymous action into compelling human drama.

We award a 4/5.