“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.