Mumbai hostage case eerily similar to 2022 Hindi film ‘A Thursday’. Did the film inspire Rohit Arya?

The recent case in Mumbai, where a man kept 19 people hostage, is being discussed for its eerie similarities to the plot of the 2022 Hindi film ‘A Thursday.’

On Thursday this week, Rohit Arya, 50, a man who ran campaigns for schools and made ads, held 17 children and 2 adults hostage at an audition theatre and threatened to harm them unless his demands were met by the government. He had shot a video where he stated the reason for the kidnapping of the children. Arya was shot and killed after he held the hostages for about 3 and a half hours. All of the hostages were rescued safely by the police.

Netizens and the Mumbai police soon realised that the case reminded them of the movie, which starred Yami Gautam. In the film, a play school teacher takes 16 children and 2 adults hostage and makes demands to the police on a Thursday. The woman had made the extreme move as she did not receive justice for something she went through from the government. She calls the police and tells them she took the children hostage. The character was also revealed to have depression and mental health issues.

Like in the film Arya, who was also found to have had mental health issues and had chosen to hold the children hostage due to his frustration with the government, specifically the education department, and their treatment of him.

The similarities between the real-life case and the film stop there.

Unlike the real-life case, the character in the film shoots one of the kindergarteners on live television.

Arya was shot and killed in the rescue operation, but the character in the film survives and becomes a teacher to female inmates in prison.

The Mumbai man had invited the children who were between the ages of 10 to 12 under the pretext of an audition for a web series. He was armed with an airgun.

He had also installed sensors on the studio's windows to detect anyone who may launch a rescue.

In the video, he said that his demands were  "simple and moral and ethical" and said, "I am not a terrorist and do not have any monetary demands, and my demands are not immoral at all".

Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar said that he had given Arya some money personally after he had complained that the education department was withholding money owed to him after he carried out the the cleanliness awareness programme Swachhata Monitor.

Arya said that the department used his short films and documentaries highlighting the significance of cleanliness, but did not give him credit, the Hindustan Times reported.

The Maharashtra government has denied Arya’s claims against them.

They said that Arya couldn't back his claim for his dues with relevant documents. They also said that his budget for the Swachhata Monitor 2024-25 was vague and did not have proper documentation.