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Song of the hills

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The Tashkent Files
U/A; Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Shweta Basu Prasad, Mandira Bedi, Pallavi Joshi, Rajesh Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi, Vishwa Mohan Badola, Prakash Belawadi, Achint Kaur, Prashant Gupta
Ratings: 

Based on true incidents, director Vivek Agnihotri's Tashkent Files, is a fictionalised film with cinematic liberties. In form, it is a blend between a courtroom drama and an online game with different task levels. In purpose, while seeking answers to the mysterious death of India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died on January 11, 1966, in Tashkent, it implores you, as a citizen of the nation, to question for, "your right to truth".

The film has a kind of stark simplicity: Apart from a brief set-up and a briefer epilogue, a major portion of the film takes place within the four walls of an inquiry commission which is so akin to a jury room, as nine prominent and responsible citizens headed by politician Shyam Sundar Tripathi (Mithun Chakarobarty) debate on the "common conspiracy theory", that surrounds Shastri's demise.

It is an open fact, and no denying it, that there have been various theories surrounding the mysterious death. The Shyam Sundar Tripathi Commission is set up after the investigative journalist Raagini Phule (Shweta Basu Prasad) is coerced by an anonymous well-wisher cum source, into writing an article that digs into the nation's past.

The well-wisher dishes out nuggets of information via a telephonic conversation which appear like stages of an online game.

Soon, Raagini is also roped into the Commission for being a journalist who has done a lot of investigation on the subject. She propels the narrative and drives home her point based on the Mitrokhin Archive II, which is a collection of handwritten notes made secretly by the Russian KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin.

Dedicated to the journalists of India, the film, on the face of it appears balanced, but the tone and texture of the narrative definitely appear slanted. Sample this; "Gau bhakt, topi pehnewala baba, kaun the?" This question subtly and surely ignites a sense of underlying brotherhood that forces an ignorant viewer to seek the truth.

And so, on the pretext of speaking the truth, the narrative digs out the bitter and indigestible political history of our country. Also, while smirking at our democracy and our education system, the film makes each one of us feel guilty as it opens a Pandora's Box but shows us nothing that we are not aware of. And the last frame, stating that the facts mentioned in the Mitrokhin Archives have not been proved or verified till date, clearly shows that the plot along with the dialogues, is clever and manipulative.

This is a film where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language, not action. The drama within the confines of the claustrophobic room appear forced and staged.

On the performance front, the film is Shweta Basu Prasad's canvas. She is effective as the ambitious, yet vulnerable Raagini. She holds her steady against the dynamic Mithun Chakraborty, who gives an equally new and varied dimension to his Shyam Sundar Tripathi.

The duo are aptly supported by an ensemble cast which includes; Pankaj Tripathi as Gangaram Jha, Mandira Bedi as the social activist Indira Joseph Roy, Pallavi Joshi on a wheelchair as the historian Aiysha Ali Shah, Rajesh Sharma as a prominent government contractor Omkar Kashyap, Vishwa Mohan Badola as the aging Justice Kurian Abraham, Prakash Belawadi as the senior bureaucrat GK Anantha Suresh and Prashant Gupta as Vivendra Pratap Singh Rana, all members of the commission.

Naseeruddin Shah as the master brain politician PKR Natrajan and Vinay Pathak with a scarred visage as Mukhtar, the person who helps Shweta unearth the mystery in Tashkent, have their moments of onscreen glory.

Mounted with ace production values, the visuals of the film do not boast of any cinematic brilliance. The songs with the lyrics, "saare jahan se achcha" and "sach jalta hain" are lost in the narrative.

Overall, with aggressive pacing, the film is well-researched and potent in nature. But with the timing of its release and the undertones in its messaging, this film appears to be a propaganda film that neither ignites any patriotic fervour nor journalistic appeal.

Also Read: Vivek Agnihotri's The Tashkent Files lands in legal trouble

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India's cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar made a donation of R59 lakh towards COVID-19 relief funds on April 7. The reason behind 59 was fascinating — the sum total of 34 Test centuries, one ODI hundred and 24 tons for Mumbai in domestic cricket.

Interestingly, the first of those 59 centuries for Mumbai was scored 50 Aprils ago in the 1969-70 Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan at the Brabourne Stadium.

It was Rajasthan's seventh Ranji Trophy final of the decade against Mumbai, with no victory to show. This, despite roping in some big names as professionals over those years like Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Manjrekar, Subhash Gupte, Rusi Surti and Arvind Apte apart from having charismatic players like Hanumant Singh and Salim Durani.

Mumbai-bred fast bowler Kailash Gattani started playing for Rajasthan as a schoolboy in 1962 and in the 1969-70 Ranji Trophy final, he was trading punches with four of his St Xavier's College teammates — Gavaskar, Milind Rege, Ashok Mankad and Atul Mehta.

Rajasthan won the toss and batted without making full use of the good batting conditions. Before the curtains came down on Day One, Rajasthan had been bowled out for 217 with Gavaskar and Mankad ending the day on 16-0.

Pace bowler Abdul Ismail, who like Gavaskar, was in his first Ranji Trophy season, claimed 4-58 while one-Test man Ajit Pai returned 2-43. It was Ismail who sent back Rajasthan's captain Hanumant Singh for a duck, caught by his opposite number Ajit Wadekar.

Earlier, the loss of Laxman Singh with the scoreboard reading only 16, didn't deter Test all-rounder Salim Durani from playing his aggressive game. He put his punitive blade to good use in an innings which included eight hits to the ropes. In a second wicket stand of 58 with Hanumant's brother Suryaveer, Durani's contribution was 41.

Solkar, who came on first change bore the brunt of Durani's aggression; Ismail too. "I remember one ball sailing towards the East Stand before I had even completed my follow through," Ismail recalled on Tuesday.

Future Test batsman Parthasarathy Sharma top-scored with 67 before putting on 92 with former Test batsman Arvind Apte for the fifth wicket.

Day Two saw Gavaskar (114) and Mankad (171) blossom to a Ranji Trophy record opening stand of 279. Gavaskar's 255-minute knock was embellished with 16 fours.

According to the 1970 edition of Indian Cricket annual, "Both batted extremely well, true to the traditions of the team to which they belonged, grafting the runs with concentration and perseverance. But both had their share of luck, which, however, did not disturb their approach, Gavaskar was missed when he was only 11 by wicketkeeper (Sunil) Benjamin off Gattani, who was troubling the batsmen in the early overs of the morning."

Mehta, who contributed an unbeaten 24 in the total of 531 beefed up by Solkar (82) and an entertaining 58 (7x4, 2x6) at No. 8 by Pai, recalled Gavaskar's friends jokingly telling him to send Rajasthan wicketkeeper Sunil Benjamin a Christmas card every year.

When I spoke to Pune-based Gattani, who was most unfortunate to miss out on an India cap, over the phone on Tuesday, he rued the fact that his side dropped many catches in the match and that Rajasthan's preparation for the season was warped. "And when you drop someone like Sunil, his bat gets bigger and bigger," Gattani exclaimed.

Gavaskar was playing only his third first-class game for Mumbai. His returns from his debut — the 1967-68 Irani Cup against MAK Pataudi's Rest of India — were 5 and 0. When he returned to the XI for the 1969-70 Ranji Trophy semi-final against Mysore (later Karnataka), he got a duck and 27 not out so the hundred in the final, reached through a single off Gattani just before tea on the second day, must have been one of relief.

Gavaskar's childhood friend Rege stressed how pressure-free the Mumbai camp was during that game and in that era in which 15 Ranji Trophy titles were clinched from 1958-59 to 1972-73: "We were never casual, but we were completely relaxed. We did not know what was it to lose and we had the great Wadekar leading us. He was not a demonstrative captain but scored very high on strategy."

Rajasthan could manage only 255 in their second innings with off-spinner Rege accounting for Suryaveer, Sharma, Gattani and Hemendra Surana. Mumbai clinched the game by an innings and 59 runs and Mumbai's next batting star for India had played a significant part in it. That Gavaskar held three catches in Rajasthan's second innings like in the previous game against Mysore, must have contributed to the thrill of his first triumphant Ranji Trophy season. It was Mumbai's 12th Ranji triumph on the trot.

KN Prabhu, the doyen of Indian cricket writers had taken note. In his Ranji Trophy review for The Cricketer International's July 1970 issue, he wrote: "Gavaskar, whose front foot drives are a delight to watch, is expected to maintain Bombay's tradition."

For pacer Raj Singh Dungarpur, the former Cricket Club of India and BCCI president, it was his last first-class game for Rajasthan at the Brabourne Stadium.

The everlasting hurt of seven final losses to Mumbai is evidenced in Raj Singh's decision to skip a reunion of Mumbai players for which he was invited, at the CCI in February 2000. "After ending up on the losing side in seven Ranji Trophy finals against those players, I didn't want to open old wounds for myself," he reasoned.

A certain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar was at that function, enjoying himself in the CK Nayudu Banquet Hall, not far away from the pitch on which he scored his maiden first-class century for his beloved city.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper

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