PARTING SHOT
LESS THAN A YEAR BEFORE MILITANTS OPENED FIRE ON THE CROWD AT the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in November 2008—part of a series of interconnected attacks in Mumbai, India—Dev Patel was dancing on the train station’s platform for the final scene of his breakout performance in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. “No one I personally knew was injured, but it rocked my family and my friends in India,” says Patel, who was born and raised in England by Gujarati Indian Hindu parents. “When I heard there was a film being made, I wanted to be a part of it.” Hotel Mumbai, opening March 29, takes place at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, one of the attack sites, with Patel’s fictional waiter, Arjun, working under real-life hero Hemant Oberoi (played by Bollywood’s Anupam Kher). Patel, known for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and his Oscar-nominated role in 2016’s Lion, did have early reservations about his part. Director Anthony Maras “won’t mind me saying that Arjun was slightly two-dimensional at the time,” says Patel. “I felt we could push it further.”
Illustration by BRITT SPENCER