'Taj should and will rise like the Phoenix'

The Taj Mahal hotel, now standing ravaged by AK 47s, grenades and major fires, will rise like the Phoenix to once again play host to bundles of joy, laughter and happiness, an acclaimed filmmaker has said.

The Taj Mahal hotel, now standing ravaged by AK 47s, grenades and major fires, will rise like the Phoenix to once again play host to bundles of joy, laughter and happiness, an acclaimed filmmaker has said.

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Zafar Hai, the noted director who incidentally made a movie to commemorate the hotel's 100th anniversary, said the Taj is a living entity and will rise like the Phoenix.

Standing right next to the Gateway of India facing the Taj, Hai, who had directed 'The Taj of Apollo Blunder' in 2003, said the hotel was just not any other heritage building but "something which had a heart pumping inside it".

"The hotel has seen laughter, sadness, marriages, first birthday parties of many babies and has also seen the two World Wars. A lot of emotions were attached to the hotel," Hai told PTI.

When asked how he felt when he first heard of the terror attack on the hotel which opened in 1903, Hai said, "It was a mixed feeling. The human tragedy coupled with the hotel on fire was too much for me. I spent the entire night watching the TV. I felt like a friend of mine is being molested right there before me."

Asked if he would like to see the hotel re-open soon, he said, "I would love to but I know that the damage to the inside is phenomenal. It will take a lot of time but it should and will rise like the Phoenix."

Like many others, Hai, too, is happy that not much damage has been done to the structure of the hotel, which has also seen the intricacies of the British Raj and "also the exit of the British empire, when the last ship, the Somerset Lighton, sailed out in 1947."