Filmmaker Anthony Maras said in an interview that aired Monday on Hill.TV’s “Rising” that his new film depicting the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai is not anti-Muslim, but rather “anti-extremist.”
“The film is not anti-Islamic, it’s anti-extremist,” Maras said last week when asked whether he is concerned “Hotel Mumbai” could send an anti-Muslim message.
The film depicts how the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India, suffered through a coordinated terror attack by an Islamic Pakistani terror group.
Maras pointed to a character portrayed by actress Nazanin Boniadi as showing Islam in a positive light.
“Nazanin’s character, in particular, is a heroic Muslim woman, who stands up and uses her faith as a source of comfort and as a source of strength to get through these attacks, Maras said.
“We’ll leave people to see the film, but one of the terrorists towards the end of the film comes to see the hypocrisy of the message that has sent him there,” he continued. “So the film is very nuanced in its portrayal of these issues, and it came from many months of research.”
The film, set to be released on March 29, comes after two New Zealand mosques were the targets of a mass shooting carried out by a suspect espousing anti-Islamic views.
— Julia Manchester
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