Paresh Rawal starrer film is no doubt convincing, but is an overstretch – Firstpost

Language: Hindi

Director: Tushar Amrish Goel

Cast: Paresh Rawal, Zakir Hussain, Amruta Khanvilkar, Namit Das, and Sneha Wagh

Paresh Rawal starrer The Taj Story is no doubt a fearless courtroom drama. Directed by Tushar Amrish Goel, The Taj Story found itself embroiled in controversy even before its release. The story had all it needed to make for a good film, but all it required was good execution.

Though it created a lot of buzz before its release. But it’s far from it. In fact, I would say the trailer was far more powerful than the entire movie itself. Some called it a propaganda film while others were of the opinion that it was misrepresenting facts. But it was none of the two.

In fact, the film could have been easily finished in one-hours’ time, but it was stretched beyond expectation to the extent that the court-room drama just didn’t come to an end. After a certain point, the dialogues and the expressions became repetitive.

Though, the first half of the film was gripping, the second half didn’t have much meat. The movie is about a tourist guy, Vishnu Das (
Paresh Rawal) based in Agra whose quest to uncover the truth behind the Taj Mahal leads him down a path that challenges age-old beliefs and exposes buried realities. The Taj Story questions the curated versions of history, reminding us that authenticity must triumph over belief or political convenience. The film also questions our education system and the way history is taught in schools.

We all know about the British atrocities, but are we aware of the inhuman rule of the Mughal emperors? No, because we have been conditioned to think that way through our history books. We have been conditioned to believe that the
Taj Mahal is a symbol of love, but it is far from it. Have we ever bothered to find out who actually built the Taj Mahal? How did Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved third wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan die. Well, she died from complications during the birth of her 14th child, Gauhara Begum. So, was it love or was it lust?

The movie also questions the Mughal rule. The story, no doubt, is fearless and so is Paresh Rawal’s performance. But the execution and the narrative are weak. With such a solid and fearless subject, the story could have been written in a far better way. The film could have been crisp and to the point. But there is just too much unnecessary running around the bush. It started off well, but with a run time of three-hours, erratic writing and the faulty execution the second -half especially was totally disastrous and inconclusive.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

WATCH the trailer of The Taj Story movie here: