Vivek Agnihotri's The Bengal Files triggered a massive row ever since the trailer dropped on August 16. The trailer shows a child being named Taimur, prompting speculation that agnihotri took a jibe at Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor for naming their first born Taimur.
What's Happening
During his appearance on The Raunac Show, Agnihotri cleared that he didn't take jibe at Saif Ali Khan. But he also made it clear that nobody should name their child Taimur.
"A lot of people are named Taimur. (Saif) wasn't the first person to name his child Taimur. Let me explain. When I went to shoot The Tashkent Files in Samarkand, I visited Taimur's tomb. Outside it, it is written, 'He conquered the richest sultanate in the world.' This was the Delhi Sultanate. They were about to give him the title of Emperor, but he refused, and said that he wouldn't accept it until he conquers Delhi," said Agnihotri.
He continued, "He massacred one lakh people in one night. He went on a killing spree from Delhi to Kashmir. He raped and pillaged along the way. Yes, he is a hero in his country; he is a great man. But he isn't to us. Of course nobody should name their child Taimur. It shouldn't even be a question."
Background
Back in 2016, when Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor made their son's name public, they faced a severe backlash.
In an interview with Delhi Times in 2016, Saif admitted that he almost changed Taimur's name. "I thought for a second about changing his name. For a couple of weeks. And Kareena was a little against it. She said, 'People respect you for your opinion and you can't'... So I said, yeah, but it's not about people. I don't want him to get unpopular. And I still might, maybe when he's one or two, I might change his name in a while, it's still sinking in, what to do," said Saif.
Last year, Kareena Kapoor opened up about the issue during an interview with Miss Malini and said, "Of course it affected me that people were talking about Taimur's name. He probably doesn't even know about the drama around his name. But, he also received lots of love for the fact that people were so interested in him. And I was like, 'But, why?' because people don't know him and he is small. I think now, he will slowly understand. He is understanding that there is a whole culture where people follow him or he is being clicked."
Vivek Agnihotri's The Bengal Files is based on the 1946 riot that shook Bengal. The film has an ensemble cast including, Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Mohan Kapur, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Pallavi Joshi, Saswata Chatterjee and Puneet Issar, among others in key roles.