“YESATYAAURAHIMSAKADESHHAI,YEGANDHIAURNEHRUKADESHHAI””SHASTRIJIKAKYUNNAHI?” 

TheTashkentFilesisanIndianhindifilmwrittenanddirectedbyVivekRanjanAgnihotri,releasedintheyear2019.ItismadeupinthegenreofconspriacythrillerandeditedbySattyajitGazmer.Itsrunningtimeis144minutesandanditreceivedmixedreviewsfromthecritics.

Thestoryspineisfoundationedintheplotrevolvingaroundthemysteriousdeathofthe2ndPrimeMinisterofIndependentIndia,Shri.LalBahadurShastri.Even50yearslaterthereisnoconcreteconclusionthatunravelsthemysteryofShastriji’sdeath,soacommitteeispulledtogethertowipeoffthefalsetheoriesfloatingabouthisdeathandunveiltherealcausesofhissuddendemiseinTashkent. 

KYAAAPINHEJAANTEHAIN? 

Thefilmhasahugecastoftalentstudedactors.TalentslikeNaseeruddinShah,MithunChakraborty,MandiraBedi,PallaviJoshi,RajeshSharma,PankajTripathi,PrashantGupta,VinayPathak,PrakashBelawadi,VishwaMohanBadolaandyoungtalentslikeShwetaBasuPrasadandAnkurRatheehavedoneanexcellentworkintherealmofrealisticacting.

TheactorshaveperformedtheircharacterssowellthatthewatchercouldnotescapetheworldcreatedbytheActorsandtheDirector.Thecharacterssketchedinthestoryareveryrealisticintermsoftheirapproachtolifeandsituation,sotheyarehighlyconnectablebythelayman.

NEWSSCOOPKISKONAHICHAHIYEYAAR? 

Thisfilmisaresearchorientedworkandeverydialogueisbackedupbytheproofsandevidencesfromthebooksavailableandthedocumentsfromtheinternationalarchieves.Thisworkofresearchmixedwiththecraftoffilmmakingisathoroughlywellresearchedfilmwhichmakesitanexcellentpieceof’historyinCinema’.Areyouamindlookingforsomereallyintriguingquestionsandanswersaboutthe’realpoliticalIndianhistory’,thenyoucannotaffordtomissthisone.Areyouacinemabufflookingforsomefactsandfiguresinfilms,youcannotresistitsprojectiononyourscreens.Aboveall,areyouanawareIndianwantingtoknowitsrootsinpoliticsandinternationalscenariointhepreviousdecades,youcannotmisstowatchthispieceofcinema. 

‘Ifyouignorethehistory,thehistoryrepeatsitselftoremindyouofyourmistakes.’Unliketheeraofpuremasaladramafilms,todaythetrendhasflippedinfavorofmeaningfulcontentbasedmovies.Thisfilmisapathbreakerinitskindofgenre.Itspeaksforitselfandthereisnodoubtunansweredthatlingersevenaftertherunningtimeofthefilmisover,thefilmhasanopenendingbutitjotsdownthedotsthatyouneedtoconnecttounderstandtheconclusion.Theeffortspouredinfromtheresearchcellofthefilmaretoberespectfullyappreciated,as

collectinganddigestingsomuchinformationisnojoke,itrequiresalotknowledgeandcourage.KINGSSABKOYAADREHTEHAIN,KINGMAKERSKISIKOYAADNAHIREHTE..

Thescreenvisualsaregrippingandintriguingsothedirectionofthefilmgetsgoodpointsformakingtheaudiencelivetheridewiththecharacters.Thescenestaketheaudiencedownthememorylaneaswellasgettheirmindsgluedinthediscussionsanddebatesofthecommitteeinthefilmthatisworkingtoreachaconclusion.Theworkingcommitteeinthestoryisanintelligentrepresentationofthemanyintellectualsectsofoursociety.TheDirectorhasdoneagreatjobinkeepingthefilmartisticallyandintellectuallygroundedintherealisticfloor.Asthecaptainoftheship,theDirectorhascourageouslyincorporatedmanysensitivesubthemesinthemainthemeofthefilm,whichmakesitan’intellectualthriller’. 

Thenarrativestyleofthefilmfallsunderthenonlinearnarrationwhichgivesstorytheneededtwistsandturns.Theeditingpartofthefilmfallslooseinsomeshotsofthefilmwhichmakesafewshotsslow.Theeditingismoderatelysimplewhichmakesthefilmminutelyslowatpace.Theuseof’silence’isbrilliantlyexecutedinmanysceneswhichenhancestheeffectofthedialoguesandgivestheviewerssometimetoabsorbthegravityofthesubject.Unlikeinmanycommercialfilms,properspacingoftimeandsilenceisgivenbetweenthetwoscenes,whichhelpsintheworkingoftheaudience’sbrains. 

SABCHALTAHAI.. 

Thecameraworkofthefilmisrathernottoocomplicatedandcutswitheasyandsimplecameramoveswhichgivesitasimplepacetothefilm.Theshotsarecarefullydesignedsoastomaximisetheeffectsofthevisuals.Thecinematographyisaveryimportantcraftoffilmmakingwhichgripstheaudienceforawhilebutattimescanuninterestthemifitisnotabletoconnectthemwiththeplot.Complicatedcameramovesaresometimesunnecessaryforrealisticfilms.Alotofcloseupshotsareusedinthefilmsoastocapturetheemotionofthecharacterandtransferittotheaudience’seyes.Closeupshotsareratherimportanttohandlebecausetoomanycanspoiltheeffectofthesceneandtoolesscandodgetheimportantactsinthefilms.Therearesomesceneareasinwhichsomereallyartisticshotscouldhavelendahandinmakingthefilmmoreartistic.Buttheshotsandmovesdesignedforthecameraworkenoughgoodtogivethefilmagroundedandreallook. 

TOHEKLAVYADRONACHARYAKOBLACKMAILKARNACHAHTAHAI?

TheartDirectionisthecraftofthefilmwhichdecidesthelookofthefilmandcaptivatestheaudience’seyesbecausetheminddwellseasilyinthespacesitperceivesfamiliar(orreal).Thespacescreatedinthefilmappearfamiliartothenormallife.Thesetsareveryrealisticandnormalwithnotingeofunnecessaryfantasy.Thelookofthefilmissorealeventhedustlyingonthefloorseemsrelatable.Theturnouteffectofthefilmisverycalmandcooldespitethemomentsofcatharsis,whichmakesitarestfulpieceoffilm.

LOGSACHNAHIN,SACHKIKAHANISUNNAPASANDKARTEHAIN 

ThedialoguesofthefilmarewrittenbythedirectorVivekAgnihotrihimself.Thedialoguesareaverypowerfulpartofthisfilm.Thosearereallyrealyetdramatic,thesentencesweuseinourdaytodaylivesareverybeautifullyincorporatedinthefilm.Thewholefilmisbasicallyadialoguecentricfilm,whichbargesintheneedofreallyinterestingsentenceconstruction.Thedialoguesaremajorlydeliveredinhindi,makingiteasierforeverycitizenofourcountrytounderstand.Thedialoguesdecidealotofpaceofthefilmplusthisfilmhasaperfectmixtureofhumorandintelligencetooffer.Nosingleswearwordisusedintheentirerunthroughofthefilm,whichmakesitastandoutbecauseeveryfilmnowadays,irrespectiveofthegenre,hassomemildorstrongabusivewords,normalizingtheswearinghabitofpeople,whichcertainlyshouldnotbeapartofgentleman’sdictionary.Theabsenceofanyadultdoublemeaningsentencesmakesitperfectlyafamilywatch.Thedialoguesaredesignedveryintelligentlytohammertheconsciousmindsoftheviewerssoastoprovoketheemotions.

KOINAHIJANTAHAIKIISSSARISCRIPTKORACHNEWALAKAUNHAI..

ThescreenplayofthefilmisdesignedbyVivekAgnihotri.Inverysimplewordsthescreenplayis’whateverishappeningandthepartofthescreen’.Itplaysabigpartincaptivatingandfocusingthewatcher’sattentiononthescreen.Ifthescreenplayisnotclearthentheaudience’smindwillbecontinuouslydistracted,suspendingtheirabilitytoconnecttothespacecreatedbythedirector.ThescreenplaygivestheneededlooktothefilmthroughactionsofthecharactersandtheArtDirection.’Actor’sjob’aretheactionsoftheactorstheydowiththedialoguedeliveryorthroughoutthescene.Notmanydirectorscaretoexploretherealmofactor’sjob,robbingtheactorsofthechanceofrealisticacting.Thereislotof’actor’sjob’inthisfilm,whichisabsentinmostfilms.So,thescenesarecarefullycraftedtolookrealandrelatable.

99ISNOTACENTURY.. 

Thesounddesignofthefilmisgood,givingtheneededintensitytothescenes.Thesoundofthefilmcanbeadecidingfactorwhenitcomestothefinaloverviewofthefilm,andthisfilmgetsfinepointsinthesoundintegritywiththevisuals.Thelightdesignofthefilmissorealistic,makingthescenesreallywelloutlinedwithrealism.Thereisnoexaggeratedfoleysoundsinthefilm,makingitlessmelodramaticandmorerealitybased. 

AGENDAKYAHAI,ISSLADKIKA? 

Ibelievethenecessityofwatchingthisfilmcomeswiththefactthatthisfilmisbackedupbyevidencesanddocumentsanditoffersinafairscenariooftherealhistorywhichwassystematicallyerasedfromthepublicplatforms.Thence,itgivesapeek-intoareallyintriguingpartofhistorythatweignored.ThisfilmisstronglyrecommendedtoalltheconsciouscitizensofIndiaandacrosstheglobe. 

Bio

He is based at Nagpur, Maharashtra. A student of B. Design 2nd year Film and T.V Production at Lovely Professional
University, Punjab.