The Tashkent Files trailer: Vivek Agnihotri, Mithun Chakraborty’s film asks ‘Who killed Lal Bahadur Shastri?’

The first trailer for The Tashkent Files was released online on Monday. The thriller is reportedly based on mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Director Vivek Agnihotri shared the trailer on Twitter, and wrote, “The wait is over. The official trailer is here.”

“Did Shastriji die, or was he killed?” asks Mithun Chakraborty’s character in the trailer. Mithun plays Shyam Sundar Tripathi in the film, who appears to be the leader of a present-day enquiry committee into the conspiracy theory that Shastri was killed. “Was it a heart attack or a state-sponsored murder?” a woman asks in a voiceover, as ominous shots of characters pacing about in rooms play out.

Shortly afterwards, we are introduced to a slate of respectable actors such as Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Tripathi, all sitting around tables, wondering aloud how the former PM could have died. One person suggests that Shastri had news about Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s whereabouts, while another wonders if Shastri’s flask of hot milk was tampered with.

The Tashkent Files is slated for a 12 April 2019. The movie also stars Shweta Basu Prasad, Vinay Pathak, Mandira Bedi, Pallavi Joshi and Ankur Rathee. It arrives a week after another political film, director Omung Kumar’s biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Follow @htshowbiz for more