Liz Mermin, A.B. 1993

Who: Liz Mermin, an acclaimed London/New York-based independent filmmaker who specializes in international social issues. She has directed and/or produced four documentary films (in addition to many television documentaries): Shot In Bombay (2008), Office Tigers (2006), The Beauty Academy of Kabul (2004), and On Hostile Ground (2001).

What: In her January 2008, UK-release documentary Shot In Bombay, Mermin captures the behind-the-scenes drama of the making and release of a Bollywood film, Shootout at Lokhandwala, featuring Bollywood screen legend Sanjay Dutt in his last film before serving a six-year prison sentence for illegal arms possession related to the perpetrators of the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts. The chaos surrounding Dutt’s court case and dramatic displays of adoration and condemnation the proceedings provoked from the stars' fans drove the volatile plot for Mermin’s documentary.

Bollywood Drama: The premise of Mermin’s Shot In Bombay, revealing the off-set mayhem of creating the Bollywood gangster film Shootout at Lokhandwala, provides enough commotion and excitement outside of the publicity surrounding Dutt. Shootout at Lokhandwala is based on the notorious 1991 shootout, during which 500 Mumbai police officers fired 1,400 rounds of ammunition, killing a group of local gangsters. Dutt plays Mumbai Police Inspector A A Khan, who led the shootout and became a local hero as a result. Mermin’s documentary features rare interviews with members of the Mumbai police force, who reflect on the day of the shootout in graphic detail. The documentary also features footage from the May 2007 premier of Shootout at Lokhandwala - and the mobs of cheering fans and hostile rioters that attended.

The superstar/convict: The son of two Bollywood stars, 48-year-old Sanjay Dutt, a two time Filmfare Awards winner, was sentenced to six years in prison for the illegal possession of firearms acquired from terrorists responsible for the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) terrorist attack in which a series of 13 bomb explosions became the most destructive assault in Indian history, resulting in 250 fatalities and 700 injuries. Sentenced on July 29, 2007, Dutt pleaded on his knees for the judge to wave his sentence for a crime committed 14 years ago, to which the judge replied, “Act to the age of 100, I have only taken away six years.” Shot In Bombay contains an intimate and candid interview with the actor on his conviction. Mermin’s documentary is likely to be the last film to feature Dutt before his prison sentence, as all other films in progress remain incomplete, on hold for the irreplaceable star.

On the director: Mermin is most widely recognized for her 2004-released documentary The Beauty Academy of Kabul about American beauticians who traveled to Afghanistan after the Taleban’s fall to teach the women how to do hair and makeup, with the aim of providing them with the skills necessary to open beauty salons. The documentary focuses on four American beauticians who develop close relationships with Afghan women and sheds humorous light on how they embraced their cultural differences. Her first feature-length documentary On Hostile Ground, released in 2001, tells the story of three U.S. abortion providers who endured a decade of severe anti-abortion violence. Mermin graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in literature (French, African, and American), and has a Masters degree in cultural anthropology from New York University.