It was the reason I decided to produce the film myself. We knew if we went to big studios, they’ll demand stars. You have an impressive cast, from Naseeruddin Shah to Mithun Chakraborty to Pankaj Tripathi. It will shake you up and make you go, ‘Oh my god! We were part of such a big conspiracy…’ That became the crux and climax of the film. However, during my research, I was led to a direction which not many people know about but is well-documented. The film is written in the style of a courtroom drama, where the audience is the judge and they are presented with both sides of the argument. Honestly, I have covered all possible angles and theories. There’s also Robert Crowley’s book about the CIA’s involvement in the alleged murder of Shastri. The trailer makes references to Subhash Chandra Bose and the ‘Tashkent Man’.
The youngsters (on social media) led me to links, books and people with knowledge of what had happened. I released a video asking people to send me material. Since there was no official information, I decided to crowdsource my research. The responses were similar: that there was no document available on Shastri ji’s death. I began by filing RTIs to the PMO, the Foreign Ministry and the Home Ministry.
Take us through the research process of this film. How can the prime minister of a country pass away without a post-mortem?”Īhead of the release of his new film The Tashkent Files - which probes at the myriad theories surrounding Shastri’s death - Vivek speaks to us about his research process for the film, the concurrence of the release with the general elections, the film’s solid cast, and his political ambitions for the future. “Even Shastri’s family went to the Home Ministry and requested an autopsy. “One thing that really bothered me was how there was no post-mortem,” says Vivek. Back home, the Indian National Congress-led government denied foul play, but suspicions followed. Shastri, who had retired to his room after the events of the day, passed away due to an alleged cardiac arrest. Despite the auspiciousness of the summit, things turned dark for India within a few hours.
The peace treaty brought the Indo-Pak war of 1965 to an end. The material was instantly compelling: On January 10, 1966, Shastri signed the Tashkent Declaration with Pakistan President Ayub Khan. The sustained public interest over Lal Bahadur Shastri’s mysterious demise in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (former Soviet Union) prompted Vivek into research. Here they were asking me to make it on his death,” recalls Vivek, whose directorial credits include Chocolate, Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, Hate Story and Buddha in a Traffic Jam. “Normally people ask you to make a film on somebody’s life. Soon, he was flooded with requests for a film on Shastri - not any film, but one centred on his death.
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