The Tashkent Files

Last year I was watching a web-series, Bose, which tells the truth behind the disappearance of freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The web-series was remarkable telling the events which led to his disappearance and conspiracies surrounding his death. One of the activities of Netaji which led to more suspicion was his appearance in The Tashkent peace treaty agreement between India and Pakistan in 1966 and his rendezvous with Lal Bahadur Shastri after the farewell party about some information which would put the insiders in trouble. Obviously, Lal Bahadur Shastri died just few hours after the meeting and only his dead body, wrapped in Indian flag arrived. This led to my interest in the last week's release, The Tashkent Files.

The Tashkent Files is an attempt to know the truth behind the mysterious death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, 2nd Prime Minister of India, which has led to many conspiracies.

Directed by Vivek Agnihotri (Hate Story), The Tashkent Files will remind you of a classic movie, Ek Ruka Hua Faisal, where panel of experts are called in to discuss a murder trial. Similarly, a journalist who had to submit a scoop to her chief editor at a leading media channel, gets involved in knowing the truth behind death of the 2nd Prime Minister of India and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress political party, Lal Bahadur Shastri. The thriller successfully puts forward few questions :-

1. How come the color of dead body of Lal Bahadur Shastri changed when it was received in India and why were there so many cuts on the body if he died of a natural death ?

2. Why was there no post-mortem performed after his death ?

3. Why did Indian Government refused to reveal any documents relating to his death ?

4. There were two people beside Lal Bahadur Shastri - his servant Ram Nath and Dr. Chugh who were the only witness to the case and co-incidentally got hit by a moving vehicle.

The movie also raises the point on the how the Russian spy agency, KJB, sent suitcases of money, amounting to 10.6 million. Unfortunately, the truth is harsh and is never told but as a citizen of India, everyone has right to information and the film ask very gently - Why there should be a change in the Indian History books, we have all studied in school. I think the movie should be watched by people of India and decide what is the best for our country rather than blindly following someone.

Coming to the technical aspect, The Tashkent Files has good background score and tight screenplay, though it misses few marks in the second half. Art direction is decent and so is the cinematography. Writing by Vivek Agnihotri is strong along with his direction. Performances by the star cast is good, especially Shweta Prasad.

Overall, The Tashkent Files is the hard-hitting truth that is painful but is better than make-believe. Excellent 4/5

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.

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

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.

So awesome that vivek ji has openly talked about some of the most sensitive and day to day issues like secularism with such a beautiful way. Awesome narrative skills and acting is just out of the world. Thanks for the master piece...🙏👍