Tashkent files (ताश्कंद फाईल्स)

"Tashkent files (ताश्कंद फाईल्स)"

Watched Hindi movie Tashkent files (ताश्कंद फाईल्स)". Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, Produced by Vivek Agnihotri and others. Written by Vivek Agnihotri. Cinematography Udaysing Mohite. Music Rohit Sharma. It stars Shweta Basu Prasad, Nasiruddin Shah, Pallavi Joshi, Pankaj Tripathi, Mandira Bedi, Vinayak Pathak, Rajesh Sharma and Mithun Chakraborty. I watched this movie with Ravi and Mihika. The movie is about 2 hour 15 min long and was released in 2019.

Shweta, a journalist looking for a coup, gets a call from a mysterious anonymous caller with a lead.  She raises questions about death of India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. A committee is formed under Mithun, the opposition leader, to determine if Shastriji died of natural causes or he was killed.

This movie analyses all theories, conspiracy theories, hypotheses and facts about the events in Tashkent. It highlights discrepancies, loop holes, missing links and mismatches to raise a lot of questions. Information from Mitrokhin files lends authenticity to the questions. 

I have read the chapter about India from Mitrokhin's book, which is widely quoted in the film. It's scary. It appears like Indian politicians were in a race to sell India. KGB was  happily controlling intellectuals, politicians, academia and even Indian secret service. If that is true these traitors have caused unimaginable damage to India.

Mithun surprises with good acting. Shweta is also good. The committee members play their part well, trying to reach conclusion while ensuring that their own vested interests are protected at the same time. The committee is comprised of interesting characters. An intellectual, a historian, an ex intelligence officer, an ex judge, a political protege and a leftist socialite. 

Direction is good. Apart from the fact that Shweta travels between Delhi and Tashkent and back, between committee daily meetings, as if they are located 3-4 km apart, director has made the film realistic. 

As expected, the film ends without a conclusion. Identity of mysterious caller is not a surprise. One who benefits most is the culprit. 

The film manages to raise a lot of questions about why Shastriji was systematically erased from public memory and whether he was killed. The first question deserves answer even if second remains unanswered. 

Recommend watching. 

Mission Mangal (मिशन मंगल)

"Mission Mangal (मिशन मंगल)".

Watched Hindi movie "Mission Mangal (मिशन मंगल)". This movie is directed by Jagan Shakti and stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Tapasee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Sharman Joshi, Kriti Kulhari, H. G. Dattatreya, Sanjay Kapoor, Dilip Tahil and Vikram Gokhale. Music is by Amit Trivedi & Tanishk Bagchi. Writing credits R Balki and Riturraj Tripathii. This film was released on 15 Aug 2019. I watched it with Ravi, Akshata, Mihika and Aditi.

After failure of GSLV, Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan are given charge of Mission Mangal, a project that is never expected to take off. They are also given a team of junior scientists (mainly women).

Will Akshay and Vidya overcome the odds? Will Mission Mangal happen? Will it succeed?

All the main characters were introduced through an impact scene. But that scene had nothing to do with rest of the movie. If only director had chosen a scene that highlighted a characteristic of the character! Akshay is not shown doing any real work. Akshay is very good but Vidya is simply too good. Other scientists have done good job. Dattatreya remains in memory as loveable oldie. Tapasee looks beautiful in saree. 

Too much time is wasted for the build up that takes us to intermission thereby leaving little time for the main movie. Real story starts after intermission.

There were a number of female scientists in this mission. This movie shows the difficulties they faced in their personal lives, which they overcame and succeeded in launching Mangalyan.

All scientists worked hard for the mission. Movie shows how they were motivated but does not show any details of how exactly they worked. The movie lacks technical details. It appears like 6-7 people working in a garage did the project. There is only one mention of 17000 scientists working on the project, but you don't see any of them. It also shows scientists cleaning and painting the work area, as if ISRO doesn't have cleaning staff!

It appears that the objective of this movie is to convey the success story of Mission Mangal and what scientists did to make it successful, to common audience. Director's achievement is passable.

This movie is a simplistic dramatisation of mission Mangal. Director has taken artistic liberty for the movie but sometimes he has overdone it. For example, there is a storm at the launch site at Sriharikota. Scientists look out of their windows in Bangalore and notice that the rain has stopped and determine that it has also stopped in Sriharikota. Next minute everyone is back in office. I have read a WhatsApp post in circulation,  of an ISRO scientist, that highlights the mistakes in the movie. 

There is one pub song in the movie that is completely out of sync with the story. But it draws audience applause because Sanjay Kapoor dances on Akhiya milaoon..., his old song. 'Om Mangalam' is a good song. Special effects are ok but could have been better. Not as good as I expected.

In short, if you want a dramatized, simplistic account, watch it!

Uri (उरी)

"Uri (उरी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Uri (उरी)". This film is directed by Aditya Dhar. Written by Aditya Dhar. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala. Music by Shashwat Sachdev. It stars Vicky Kaushal, Yami Goutami, Paresh Rawal, Swaroop Sampat, Kriti Kulhari, Rajat Kapoor and Yogesh Soman. The film runs for about 2 hour 15 min and was released in 2019. I watched it with Ravi, Akshata, Mihika and Aditi.

This film is dramatisation of India's surgical  strikes in PoK, in response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Uri, launched by Pakistan sponsored terrorists. 

As far as the story goes, it's hard to tell which part was fact and which was dramatisation. However, director has done a good job of presenting a flowing story. He has added right quantities of emotions, action and drama to the recipe to create a heady concoction.

Vicky Kaushal is good. Looks like a soldier and acts like one. Yami Goutami is beautiful but has limited role. Paresh Rawal is good as usual. It was good to see Swarup Sampat after a long time. Yogesh Soman looks exactly like Parrikar. Can't imagine anyone else playing the role. Rajat Kapoor looks like Modi but doesn't portray the strong leadership vibes, he appears like an old grandpa. Unconvincing!

Action scenes are convincing but final action could have been more exciting. Vicky's speech to the selected batch of commandos is not very effective. Why an officer who is an excellent marksman is chosen as chopper pilot? Why does the strike team celebrate when they reach the caves at the border rather than after reaching at the base in India?

The surgical strikes was an important milestone in new India's muscular foreign policy and was a defining moment. Dramatisation of the surgical strikes into a movie has ensured that surgical strikes remain in public memory for a longer time and enlighten the ones who are not in the know. 

Recommend watching.