Gaining critical and commercial success, the Hindi movie Maachis features a Tata (LP) 1210 E truck with the famous Kulbhushan Kharbanda at the wheel. Directed by Gulzar and produced by RV Pandit, the movie featured Chandrachur Singh (as Kripal) in the lead role seeking out Khalistani militants after being disillusioned with the government’s law and order forces. He (Kripal) is shown doing this after his friend Jaswant, played by Raj Zutshi, is unfairly kept in custody and severely beaten up. Like many wronged, angry men and women of Punjab in the 1980s, Kripal thinks violence as the only way to bring the perpetrators to justice. Observing Sanathan (played by Om Puri) plant a time-bomb on a bus he is riding to meet his cousin who has militant links, Kripal tells him of his woes. He travels with Sanathan on a truck (the one mentioned above) piloted by a commander (played by Kharbanda) and laden with homemade bombs and two militants. As the love story between Kripal and Veeran (played by Tabu) takes a new turn, and with the Punjab unrest in the background, the Tata (LP) 1210 E with Kulbhushan Kharbanda at the wheel makes a strong impression.

Building over the 1210 SE, the full-forward control design of the (LP) 1210 E came in cowl form. An all-steel cabin was also made available, but operators chose to build (wood and iron) bodies by local bodybuilders. Said to provide Providing more loading space over the (semi-forward control) 1210 SE, the (LP) 1210 shared a good deal of componentry with the 1210 SE. The truck was powered by a 4.6-litre four-cylinder diesel engine that produced 110 hp of power. The transmission was five-speed, and the brakes were service hydraulic assisted with single chamber air pressure booster. Featuring a 160-litre fuel tank as standard, the steering of the truck was of the recirculating ball type. The suspension was made up of semi-elliptic silicon-manganese leaf springs and hydraulic dampers. The (LP) 1210 was a platform that saw its manufacturer bring in an amount of innovations and modern technologies. If the availability of an all-steel cabin was ahead of its time then, the truck, into its lifecycle, came to feature a power steering sometime in its life cycle.