A question at the heart of Vivek Agnihotri's "Tashkent Files": Do we think we deserve to know the truth about the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri?



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For years, in the political corridors of Delhi, it has been whispered that Shastri's death was not due to a heart attack, but to poisoning. Even Shastri's wife, Lalita, had expressed her suspicions about it.

Yet no filmmaker has shown the courage to tackle this story. In Tashkent Records Vivek Agnihotri takes a critical look at the mysteries surrounding Shastr's sudden death.

The main character of the film is a young and ambitious political journalist, Ragini Phule, who craves hunger. scoop. At first, she is presented as a journalist who does not have too much scruples. She receives an anonymous call that provides basic information about the unanswered questions about Shastri's death. With this information, Ragini writes several articles questioning the official version concerning the death of Shastri.

His articles force the government to form a committee headed by the opposition leader, Shyam Sunder Tripathi, an aging demagogue looking for a cause to revive his political power. career. While Ragini explores the events that led to the death of the former Prime Minister, she finds herself abandoned by her cynicism to get lost in the quest for truth.

The committee is made up of members such as social worker Indira Joseph Roy, whose business is ongoing. NGOs, the historian Aisha Ali Shah, who wants to be a caricature of a "chair historian" and other characters such as intelligence officers and retired judges. Most of the film is based on the deliberations of the committee, in a format that reminds viewers 12 Angry Men and Ek Ruka Hua Faisla .

It is clear from the screenplay that a lot of the laborious research went into making this film. The script skillfully combines documentaries and interviews of Shastri's sons and journalists, Kuldip Nayyar and Anuj Dhar, with the fictional narrative. Shot in grainy black and white, heated debates and panel discussions also make harsh comments on contemporary politics.

The strength of the film lies in its ensemble cast composed of several award-winning actors such as Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Pankaj Tripathi. Mandira Bedi and Naseeruddin Shah. Mithun Chakraborty interprets bravura in a fleshy role of Sham Sundar Tripathi, an aging politician in search of a cause. Pankaj Tripathi and Pallavi Joshi have a decisive influence in their respective roles, but Shweta Basu Prasad steals the show, especially in the second half, with her credible anguish.

add a lot to the movie. Sometimes the representations sometimes become strident, and the constant attempt to comment on contemporary politics sometimes sounds unnaturally

The film raises several pertinent questions, including: why was no autopsy performed on Shastri's body , even if his family asked for it? for that? Why did Shastri serve food on that fateful night, not by his usual cook Ram Nath, but by Jan Mohammed, the cook of the consul of India? The film also reveals to viewers that the only two eyewitnesses to Shastri's death, his personal physician, Dr. Chugh, and his valet, Ram Nath, both died mysteriously in a car accident just before their appearance. before an inquiry commission.

These are questions that have been raised in the past, but The Tashkent Files introduce them to the general public. As Ragini says, the protagonists of the film, "it is not only about Shastriji, but the ordinary citizen's right to the truth".

At the end of the film, the audience has more than an allusion to the truth, which could be unpleasant for many politicians today.

We know that Vivek Agnihotri is a disruptive filmmaker who is courting controversy. The Tashkent files are no exception. It is a daring and disruptive film that deserved to be viewed for the fundamental question it poses: "As a nation, do we deserve to know the truth?"

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