Some Reactions From Bollywood On the Mumbai Terror Attack

Ashish Chowdhary

In The Darkest Hour - Aashish Chaudhary

Among the many Mumbaikars, who went around searching for their loved ones on the night after terrorists struck, was Ashish Chowdhary who went to Trident Hotel last morning to search for his sister who was trapped inside the hotel. He waited outside the hotel like many others, in vain. We spoke the actor around 7:30 pm and he had still no news of his sister.

Update at 04:00 PM: Actor Ashish Chowdhury's sister, who was among those trapped in the Trident Hotel standoff, dies in the hotel.

Some Bollywood Personalities React On the Mumbai Terror Attack

Imtiaz Ali
“It's time for us to understand that we can't be scared. This happened to us because we have taken it lying down each time. And we raise no questions, we are letting all this happen to us. We need to question the people in power and take responsibility ourselves to bring the right people to power. What has happened to the city is completely unimaginable. Instead of pointing fingers and finding faults, we need to wake up and take charge of the situation, nipping the problem at
the bud.”

Mahesh Bhatt
“Terrorism is here to stay and that is the grim reality we have to face. And if we thought it happened only in Afghanistan or Pakistan, and that we were wellprotected, that delusion has now crumbled. We now have to face the fact that terror is also in Vile Parle. We have to understand that our politicians are singularly incapable of restoring peace, and that by choosing to be a war tool of the US, we are paying a very high price. The only peace we will now see is the peace between wars. Let me tell you, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Rohan Sippy
Rohan Sippy's My President is Coming, which was due to release today, has been postponed indefinitely owing to the unrest caused by the terrorist attacks. Rohan had to even stop the special preview of the film midway on Wednesday at Fame Adlabs, Andheri. Rohan Sippy said, “I am yet to come to terms with what has happened. Watching a heritage hotel like the Taj burning
(on television) was heartbreaking.”

Rahul Bose: Enough! We don't have 9 lives
The absence of duty on part of the politicians is the sole reason for this tragedy. We don't need new terror laws to stop a ship-full of grenades and guns from entering our city, we simply need to do our job well. We get frisked and our cars get checked, but how did these terrorists waltz into these hotels with AK47s? Why is our anti-terror plan not in place? This is the largest psychologically damaging blow on our city, but we will recover, simply because we have no choice. But, the time has come to ask for another choice. The people are not going to tolerate an event of such intensity, again. Politicians should not take us for granted. We are not gifted with nine lives.

Pooja Bedi: Please Implement Enough is Enough now
The city has been subjected to non-stop acts of violence, first by political parties like the Shiv Sena and the MNS and now by armed terrorists. I wish the government had taken a stand a long time back, stating that enough is enough and taking appropriate action against the perpetrators of violent acts. However, it's never too late for the government to implement this slogan — starting now.

Suchitra Krishnamurthy: We need better-trained security

It's deplorable! The government is not equipped to handle a handful of terrorists. I am not discounting people who have worked hard, kudos to them. But we need better-trained security personnel.

Pakistani Actress, Meera Lands Up at Mahesh Bhatt’s House at Midnight For Accommodation

Meera

Midnight drama

Pakistani actress, Meera landed up at Mahesh Bhatt’s house at 1.30 am to spend the night at his place, but Bhatt refused to accommodate her.

Mahesh Bhatt’s discovery, Pakistani actress Meera (who made her Bollywood debut in Nazar) landed up at Mahesh’s house in Juhu, on Monday at 1.30 a.m., asking to be accommodated in his house, but Mahesh Bhatt put his foot down and instead asked producer Sevy Ali to take her back.

The drama unfolded when there was a knock at the Bhatt’s residence at 1.30 a.m., on Monday. Mahesh’s 20-year-old daughter, Shaheen opened the door and was shocked to see Meera at their door step with Gulshan Arora, owner of the hotel Sun ‘n’ Sand. She immediately informed her father about the unexpected visitors at the dead of the night.

When we asked Mahesh if it was true that Meera had come to his home at 1.30 a.m., he said, “I was shocked to see Meera at my residence in the middle of the night. She looked disturbed and seemed to be suffering from some sort of paranoia. I surely couldn’t accommodate her in that state at my place. Meera had no business to be here. Recently, she even left Pakistan without informing her parents. Such behaviour is totally unacceptable to me. But then, I did no wrong. I took complete responsibility in handing her over to a responsible man, Sevy Ali (producer of Nazar and White Noise) and asked him to take her away.”

Meera confirmed that she did land up at Mahesh Bhatt’s house on the said night. She said, “I am a young girl who is living alone in Mumbai. One guy was troubling me and I got very scared. I had no other option but to rush to my friend Gulshan Arora (owner of Sun ‘n’ Sand). He took me to Bhatt saab’s house.”

The drama went on at Bhatt’s residence till 3 a.m.

Meera is miffed with Mahesh Bhatt for turning her away. She said, “Bhatt saab’s behaviour towards me has changed drastically. I must add that I am quite peeved by the attitude of people here. He even called up my father and asked him to come and take me home.”

When we checked with Bhatt about this, he confirmed and said, “Yes, I did call up her father. Meera has spoken a lot against me in the Pakistani press in the recent past. But now she wants me to cast her in one of my films. But I am not living under any illusion. We have a young India here who needs younger heroines. Why don’t certain ageing actresses come to terms with their mortality?”

We also spoke to Sevy Ali about the incident who said, “I took Meera to the hotel as she wanted to meet another Pakistani actor, Humayun Saeed, who was staying there. I was with her till she knocked his door.” Meera also agreed that she had been to Humayyun’s room to seek refuge for the night as his wife is her good friend. When we asked Sevy, what was Meera’s mindset, he replied, “Meera was very dazed and not in her senses.”