'The Taj Story' Movie Review: Paresh Rawal starrer film is no doubt convincing, but is an overstretch

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 weak script and bad execution massacred it all.

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.

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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. They have called as the ruthless and inhuman rulers in the film which is very different from what we have read in our history books about the Mughal rule. Vishnu Das played by Paresh Rawal very clearly says that he isn’t targeting the minority, but he trying to explain that Taj Mahal was not built by Shah Jahan. He even says that the education board is agenda driven and labels them as ’education mafias’ and ‘intellectual terrorists’. Shah Jahan’s rule is called the ‘golden era’ in our history books, but it’s far from it. The main protagonist Vishnu Das (Paresh Rawal) calls the Taj Mahal as the symbol of ‘genocide’ and ‘atrocity’ and not love.

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. The film completely thins out towards the end.

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. Sadly, there is not a single Wah Taj moment in the film! It is just a wasted opportunity.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

WATCH the trailer of The Taj Story movie here: