Wah Taj! review: Astonishing piece of cinema

Film: Wah Taj! (U/A)
Rating: 1/5

The Taj Mahal is India’s pride and one of the most frequented tourist spots in the world. But what looks like just another day in Agra is turned upside down when Tukaram (Shreyas Talpade), a farmer from Maharashtra, arrives at the entrance with his wife (Manjari Phadnis) and daughter on a tractor.

The police stop him from barging in but get a shock when Tukaram reveals that he wishes to take over the land on which the Taj Mahal stands because he is its legal owner. Not only that, he has documents that he claims were written by various historical personalities stating one of his forefathers to be the owners of the land.

Tukaram's antics result in a countrywide uproar and scare the living daylights out of the chief minister (Govind Pandey) and the local MLA (Hemant Pandey). But does Tukaram actually own the land?

Shreyas Talpade, who makes a comeback after a long time, shows glimpses of his acting talent. In fact, he is one of the two positive features of the film. The other is its short runtime of 106 minutes.

The fallacies in this tale are so many that one wonders where to begin. So let's begin at the beginning. Here are a few points to ponder over:

♦ The story lacks sense. Nobody, from the police to the judiciary, asks Tukaram why he or any of his forefathers never laid claim to the land in all these centuries.

♦ The MLA randomly signs a paper presented to him by an item girl while enjoying her dance.

♦ The same person physically battles Tukaram in front of the media. Later, he offers illegal favours to Tukaram in front of the media when the microphone is in his face.

♦ Coming to the media, Wah Taj! has one of the weirdest portrayals of people from this profession. For example, when Phadnis’s character breaks into a devotional song, some TV journalists join her, along with the police. Mind you, this is just one example.

♦ Forensic experts can easily be fooled into believing that letters prepared a few months ago are centuries old.

♦ The montages of the Taj Mahal from various angles become an overdose.

♦ The twist in the climax leaves you speechless (and not in a good way).

Overall, Wah Taj! astonishes you with its blatant disregard for logic and good sense.

Director: Ajit Sinha 
Producers: Jayantilal Gada, Pawan Sharma and Abhinav Verma
Writer: M Salim
Cast: Shreyas Talpade, Manjari Phadnis, Govind Pandey, Hemant Pandey
Music: Vipin Patwa, Jaidev Kumar and Gaurav Dagaonkar
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 106 minutes