The Taj Story

About the film

The Taj Story is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language courtroom drama film written and directed by Tushar Amrish Goel, and produced by CA Suresh Jha under the banner of Swarnim Global Services Pvt. Ltd. It stars an ensemble cast of Paresh Rawal, Zakir Hussain, Amruta Khanvilkar, Namit Das, and Sneha Wagh. It faced criticism over its historical inaccuracies and conspiracy theories, and has been labeled a Hindutva propaganda film by critics. The Taj Story was theatrically released on 31 October 2025. It received negative reviews.

Production

Filming began on 20 July 2024. Actor Paresh Rawal confirmed his involvement in the project on 28 May 2024 through a post on his X handle. Principal photography was carried out over 45 days across multiple locations in northern India. Major portions were shot in Dehradun and Agra, including sequences at the Taj Mahal, Mehtab Bagh, and surrounding areas. For certain scenes, flowers were desired, but the Archaeological Survey of India did not allow them to be brought inside the monument. The shoot was completed in November 2024.

Reception

The Taj Story generally received negative reviews from the critics.

Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, calling it an "overstretch", and writing, "The story had all it needed to make for a good film, but weak script and bad execution massacred it all". Ritika Srivastav of India Today awarded it 2.5 stars, writing, "The accents are genuinely impressive, and there are flashes of clever use of AI-generated visuals. But none of it compensates for the film’s glaring weaknesses: the lazy writing, the filler female characters, and the total lack of focus".

Shubhangi Shah, writing for The Week wrote, "The Taj Story falls flat and not just as a propaganda film, because I can dare even the firm rightwing supporters to sit through this three-hour-long film, which can be a test for both your patience as well as intellect". Saibal Chatterjee, writing for NDTV, rated the movie at 2/5 and concluded, "The Taj Story is a throw of dice that is all over the place. Even Paresh Rawal cannot save it".

Response and controversy

Following its announcement, The Taj Story attracted widespread criticism and trolling on social media, with many accusing the filmmakers and trade analyst Komal Nahta of promoting a contentious and divisive subject. The film's narrative, which appears to draw inspiration from claims popularized by writer P. N. Oak, asserts that the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu temple named Tejo Mahalaya. These claims have been widely debunked by mainstream historians and archaeologists as pseudo-history lacking credible evidence. India's Supreme Court dismissed Oak's petition to declare the Taj Mahal a Hindu temple, describing his views as a “bee in his bonnet”.

Shanzila Fatymah, writing for Suno News, added "the Taj Mahal controversy reflects a broader shift in India’s cultural politics. Recasting Islamic architecture as “foreign” and Hindu symbols as “authentically Indian” creates a simplified narrative of native versus invader. This framing marginalises India's 200 million Muslims, depicting them as outsiders in a country they have helped shape for centuries".

The film has been widely labeled as a propaganda piece promoting Hindutva narratives, with critics arguing it fuels communal tensions by challenging the established history of the Taj Mahal as a Mughal-era mausoleum built by Shah Jahan. Critics, including those on platforms like Twitter, compared the film to other controversial titles like The Kashmir Files, accusing it of pushing a historically revisionist agenda.

Key details