Vivek Agnihotri's The Bengal Files will release in theatres on September 5. The film has sparked a massive political controversy in Bengal, as it allegedly portrays the Hindu genocide in a distorted manner against the backdrop of the 1946 Calcutta riot. Vivek Agnihotri had earlier claimed that theatre owners in Bengal are refusing to screen the film during a conversation with NDTV. A day before the film's release, NDTV reached out to theatre owners in Kolkata to check the ground reality.
Navin Choukhani, Director of Navina Cinema, tells NDTV, "It's a single screen. We had a prior commitment with Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 4. The Bengali film Dhumketu is already doing well for us. So, we are not running The Bengal Files."
The owner of Priya Cinema, Arijit Dutta, echoed the same sentiment: "In a single screen, we can't run several films. We will run Baaghi 4 along with two Bengali films. You can ask the multiplex owners why they are not running The Bengal Files."
NDTV has also reached out to a senior officer of the INOX-PVR chain.
Notably, the film has not been banned in Bengal yet. Neither have theatre owners issued an official statement explaining why they are not screening the film in Bengal.
On BookMyShow, the film is not available for bookings
Earlier this week, during a conversation with NDTV, Vivek Agnihotri said, "We opened the advanced booking and the theaters have been finalised. I've got to know through my distributors. The distributors had different religions in Bengal. It will create history. But I just learned that theatres are now refusing to show it because they fear that there will be a political turmoil."
Meanwhile, actor-producer Pallavi Joshi shared an open letter appealing to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, for protection and support regarding the film's release in West Bengal.
An excerpt from the note read, "Respected Madam President. With a heavy heart, I reach out to you, not for favours, but for protection. The Bengal Files, the final part of the Files Trilogy, releases on 5th September. It tells the long-suppressed truth of the Hindu genocide of Direct Action Day, the horrors of Noakhali, and the trauma of Partition. But in West Bengal, truth is under siege. Years before completion, the Chief Minister mocked the film."
Pallavi Joshi claimed, "Since then, baseless FIRs have been filed, police blocked our trailer, and even newspapers avoid carrying ads. My family is threatened every day by political party workers. Now theatre owners have told us they are being intimidated, threatened and are refusing to screen it, fearing violence by ruling party workers. There is no official ban, yet an unofficial ban silences the film before people can see it."
The film is the third installment in Vivek Agnihotri's Files trilogy, following the National Award-winning movies The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022). It also stars Mithun Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Anupam Kher, Priyanshu Chatterjee, and Darshan Kumar. The film will release in theatres on September 5.