Shootout at Lokhandwala

Apoorva Lakhia's 2007 film recounts a real gunfight in Mumbai's Lokhandwala district on 16 November 1991. The head of the anti-terrorism squad surrounded the building where the wanted gang leader Maya Dolas was hiding with hundreds of officers; part of the hours-long shootout was broadcast live and the incident dominated the national conversation. The film frames it as an inquiry, asking why the police chose a firefight over arrests. The vantage point, however, is clearly the force's own, and it arrives at a conclusion that justifies the operation. In reality the relationships behind the event and the allegations about the officer in charge remain contested, and the film opens that argument only partly. Who it's for: viewers who like Indian action cinema and crime films drawn from real events. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a many-sided, critical account of what happened; other sources are needed.