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Join UsStar Cast: Paresh Rawal, Zakir Hussain, Namit Das, Amruta Khanvilkar
Director: Tushar Amrish Goel
What’s Good: The way the film spotlights a glaring historical dispute
What’s Bad: The way it chickens out and calls itself a “fictional” story in the disclaimer
Loo Break: No way!
Watch or Not?: If you possess an open mind, definitely!
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 165 Minutes
User Rating:
The Taj Story examines the debate over whether the Taj Mahal was, in fact, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute mausoleum in memory of one of his wives, Mumtaz Begum.
This is told through the story of a local Agra guide, Vishnu Das (Paresh Rawal), who is contesting the election for the post of president of the association of guides. His father, also a guide, committed suicide some years back for an unknown reason (later disclosed), and his son (Namit Das) is also a guide there.
Matters come to a head when a journalist (Amruta Khanvilkar) quizzes him as she is making an in-depth documentary on the Taj and the possibility (based on certain evidence) that it is not based on any love story but had much older and different origins. Disturbed by the interaction, Vishnu does something that endangers his very job as well as that of his son. And now, Vishnu is determined to investigate the truth behind it all.
Based on a four-month deep study, he files a Public Interest Litigation against the Taj (!), arousing ire amidst Muslims even as he maintains that this is not a Hindu-Muslim issue but an investigation in the interests of truth. The case is admitted (unlike some similar earlier PILs) because of the weight of the primary arguments he presents, even as Mercedes-owning lawyer Riyaaz (Zakir Hussain) appears for the State. What happens next?
The Taj Story Movie Review: Script Analysis
The expertly-penned script (Saurabh M. Pandey with director Tushar Amrish Goel) makes for a grippingly entertaining watch with moments of intensity merging with heaps of wry and cynical humor that is also very ‘today,’ with immense but apt references to social media, Bigg Boss, selfies, videos, and duplex structures in the 17th century!
The court scenes thus acquire a solid dimension through the cutting-edge situations and dialogues, and the way Vishnu, appearing as his own lawyer, ruthlessly demolishes the arguments of supposedly authentic and informed authorities, challenging them with not just appropriate queries but also facts through photographs.
The script owes its existence to the 1960s book, The Taj Mahal is a Hindu Palace, which was written by historian P.N. Oak (acknowledged in the credits) and published by Jaico Books. It moves inexorably towards establishing the malefic intentions of several authorities that present distorted Indian history to students, and the closing arguments are indeed presented in a brilliant manner.
However, the film, as with many such movies that are instantly labelled as ‘propaganda,’ ends on a conciliatory note with a slideshow that, however, shows all such litigations discarded by various courts.
The only weak point in this script is that it takes recourse to a rather filmi set of baddies and some personal physical attacks on Vishnu’s family that should have been dealt with by the law. But I liked the twist of the ‘fake’ witness-to-be at the end.
The Taj Story Movie Review: Star Performance
Such a film would suffer terribly in impact as well as entertainment value with weak acting, but luckily, everyone comes up trumps. Paresh Rawal is the perfect choice for the determined Vishnu Das, and Namit Das as his son, and Sneha Wagh as his daughter-in-law, etch redoubtable performances.
Zakir Hussain as Rizvi is dignity personified, and Shishir Sharma as one of the authorities, Brijendra Kala (as the lawyer who chickens out but helps Vishnu later), Shrikant Sharma, and the other actor who plays Vishnu’s staunch friends, as well as Abhijit Lahiri as the judge, and Akhilendra Mishra also score high. Anil George makes for the customary villain, while Amruta Khanvilkar, as the documentary maker and the actor who plays Vishnu’s rival, Usman, are alright.
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The Taj Story Movie Review: Direction, Music
Tushar Amrish Goel is clearly on a mission. He says everything without seeming nervous and cleverly inserts moments and sequences that denote that the debate is not religion-based at all, but benefits India as a country, and Hindus and Muslims are all Indians. His technical angles are non-gimmicky, and his straight narration helps.
Rohit Sharma’s background score and his only song, Dham Dhadak, are both well-done.
The Taj Story Movie Review: The Last Word
If you want to see an entertaining film that still educates and does it without any parochial or propagandist angle, The Taj Story is indeed your slice of history. It scours something that is covered by needless veneers and asks pointed questions in a relevant manner.
Four stars!
The Taj Story Trailer
The Taj Story releases on 31st October, 2025.
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