Steineded
How sad is this?
Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Parker Lewis
I enjoy watching the behind-the-scenes documentaries, but I was a bit disappointed with Hotel India. There was an over-emphasis on the so-called super-wealthy guests and not much on the staff who no doubt work very long hours and with dedication.I would have liked to have known what backgrounds some of the staff have, are they earning an income to support an extended family, do they have aspirations of social mobility? Hotel staff work long hours and I would like to have seen how they cope with the demands and rigors of the super-wealthy who grace the hotel. I would also have liked to have known what motivated them to work at the Taj.There was a British couple who drive around India in a Bentley, who regularly stay at the Taj (I can only wonder what their insurance premium is for the car). I thought they would be super-famous but when I Googled them I couldn't find them!
Prismark10
Once upon a time you would have a 60 minutes documentary of a swanky hotel presented by Alan Whicker or Clive James. It could be Caesar's Palace in Vegas or the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Now documentaries about top class hotels come around regularly, it was Claridges in London last year and now its the turn of the Taj in Mumbai, lets forget that Michael Palin spent some time here during his first Around the World trip, that was 25 years ago.The first thing to notice is that the Taj is rather affordable, you can have rooms for a reasonable rate, not that you would know from this documentary which decides to ignore everyday guests and decides to concentrate on the more expensive suites constantly reminding us of the daily rate.So the the four part documentary opens up with some of the guests in these expensive suites that comes with butler service, some are VIPs, some are rich, you even get as the series goes on some ex- maharajas. The series also focuses on some long term employees who have dedicated their lives in serving the guests of the Taj.However it becomes increasingly noticeable that the series is padded, here are some exterior shots of the hotel, here are some shots of the Mumbai slums and lets follow some of the employees to their homes. Also its noticeable that the staff speak English to each other for the cameras.The individual episodes concentrated on certain aspects such as an art auction which conveniently broke the record of the most expensive art work sold in India, to a wedding taking place at the hotel and the final episode which was a mish mash as it concentrated on some wealthy guests, an auction hosted by Sharon Stone but more importantly the Mumbai attacks that took place six years ago and which the hotel was a victim of where a number of people guests and staff diedHowever the series was dull because it was padded. You also did not get to see a lot of the hotel because they concentrated on the rich, many of them were rather boring and off putting on television. You have in all the episodes the same information being repeated, it should had been a one hour documentary.