The Tashkent Files

Great film, probably the most I've enjoyed a Bollywood film so far.

'The Tashkent Files' isn't a typical Hindi film, at least compared to the ones I've watched thus far. It takes its time with the story and properly sifts through it, without any songs shoehorned in. I thoroughly felt entertained by it, despite a potentially damaging 144 minute run time.

There are some very good performances from the cast. Shweta Basu Prasad is no doubt the star, she puts a lot of emotion into the role of Raagini. Mithun Chakraborty is extremely likeable as Shyam, he keeps the film moving when the focus comes away from Prasad. Naseeruddin Shah is the most noteworthy of the rest, who are all pleasant to watch.

I had no knowledge of Lal Bahadur Shastri before this, so it was very interesting to learn bits and pieces about this period of India's history - even if it features disputed elements and the usual creative license that films use. I think they tell it very well, with/without the aforementioned.

I watched this on the UK's Zee Cinema channel, who broadcasted a version with a crap tonne of censorship over names, countries, organisations etc. It actually turned into an amusing little game to try and guess what was behind the blur!

In seriousness though, this is most definitely worth a watch.

Direction: Vivek Agnihotri gave honest try for mystical death of Lal Bahudur Shastri ji and he succeeded in his objective. This poltical thriller is totally nail biting one as it will hook up you till the climax. Performance: We must say thanks to casting director as he did choose any A-star. Shweta Basu Prasad take the lead in the role of Raagini Phule as small age journalist. Mithun da proved his acting once again with political role. Naseer was also great in touch with role of home minister. Mandira added more power as NGO owner and Pallavi as Historian. Pankaj Tripathi once again impressed his audience with monologue on Secularism. Rajesh Sharma and Vinay Pathak did brilliant job in small role. Script: Vivek has done really work hard to make this script so meaningful and gave some message without any political alignment. It has many other big cover up e.g. KGB agents presence in Pan India, Death of Deendayal ji and Shyma Prasad along with Plane crash of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Dialogue: Great dialogue with punches make any script more powerful and robust. There was some section with brilliant dialogues e.g. India on sale and Secularism issue. Music: This section was not up the mark as it can be better than this. Rohit Sharma must added some meaningful track with perfect timing. Box-office: On day 1, it has collected .4o Crores but collection will be increase on Sat and Sun as good words of mouth for this movie. Last words: Don't miss this master piece from Vivek Agnihotri

The movie is quite informative about the subject it touches. How the whole nation got compromised for the benefits of a few. Also explains why Russia was so much friendly towards India... there is no free lunch!

The only problem is, all this is wrapped around by too much of Bollywood drama, which makes it a bit boring sometimes. Could have been more engaging by cutting short that drama.

I request all the Indians to watch that movie. Thanks to Vivek Agnihotri for picking that Issue which the government always wanted to hide from us. I really feel so ashamed after watching that movie that our 2nd PM died but no one cares. Even our education system want us to forget about Shastri Ji. RIP Sir, we are so sorry that we didn't honoured you with the honour you deserve.

I watched the movie, I got home, I read some ebooks about the tashkent case. The movie was right. Why was the truth hidden from us? It's a must watch to make people aware of the evils in the society. The dialogues were the best part of the movie. Acting by Mithun day was awesome. I would appreciate it if the cinematography could have been improved. I hated some awkward camera angles. Otherwise it was a fantastic movie. Must watch.