Shot in Bombay, an “often surreal” documentary exploring the thin lines that separate crime from punishment and fiction from reality in and around the Bombay film industry – began its theatrical run at London’s ICA on Friday, 18 Jan.

According to a review in Timeout Magazine:

The ironies are ripe indeed, but director Mermin doesn’t spend too much time elbowing us in the ribs, instead offering wry observation of the Bollywood movie factory at work, and fanning out to assess the local public’s evident support for shoot-to-kill law enforcement, the very different levels of justice available to rich and poor, and the long shadow cast by fugitive crimelord Dawood Ibrahim, an apparent linking factor between the bombings, police corruption and Bollywood finances.

Though lacking genuine investigative heft and with obviously limited access to Dutt himself, the result is an absolutely fascinating survey, nimbly skipping from the bubble-headed asides of ‘Shootout’s irrepressibly crass filmmaker to assess more serious human rights issues without feeling too superficial or indeed overly snooty about the infectious can-do spirit of the seasoned crew trying to create Bruckheimer spectacle on a rupee budget.

The film is being screened at the ICA in London through to 10 February.
(A Little Bird Production / Producer: Nahrein Mirza; Director: Liz Mermin)