Naseeruddin Shah, Mithun Chakraborty roped in for a film based on Lal Bahadur Shastri?

With PadMan, Super 30 and Gold in the pipeline, it seems 2018 is certainly the year of films based on lives of real-life heroes. Taking the trend forward, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has announced a film on former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on the leader’s 52nd death anniversary on Thursday. 

The filmmaker took to Twitter to make the announcement and wrote, “On Thursday, Agnihotri tweeted: “On this day, our second PM Lal Bahadur Shastri died mysteriously in Tashkent. Was it heart attack or poison? Even after 52 years, the truth of the biggest cover-up of free India has been denied to his family, followers, citizens. After years of research, I present #The Tashkent Files.”

On this day, our 2nd PM Lal Bahadur Shashtri died mysteriously in Tashkent. Was it heart attack or poison? Even after 52 yrs, the truth of the biggest cover-up of free India has been denied to his family, followers, citizens. After years of research, I present #TheTashkentFiles pic.twitter.com/k53WBSrKk8

— Vivek Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) January 11, 2018

Moreover, Vikas has roped in veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty for the film. Titled The Tashkent Files, the film will be an investigative thriller based on the former PM’s controversial death. For the uninitiated, Shastri died in Tashkent in 1966, then in the Soviet Union, soon after signing a peace pact with Pakistani rulers to end the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Talking about the casting the veteran actors, Vivek told a news agency, ”A film on the biggest cover-up of a free India required that we work with great actors with credibility. Both Naseer and Mithunda are multiple-time National Award winners. It is a privilege to work with such involved and passionate actors of our times.” 

The statement issued on behalf of the makers also stated that the movie will have two sides to the narrative and its story is a crowd-sourced idea. Meanwhile, the director is expected to cast a prominent actor for the role of Shastri and the film is slated to go on floors next week.

(With agency inputs)