Actress-producer Pallavi Joshi has opened up about how she cleansed her system of the scenes that took a toll on her mind during the filming of her upcoming film.
She will next be seen in The Bengal Files, which is based on the Direct Action Day that took place on August 16, 1946. The film presents events from one of the darkest chapters of India's history, when people were brutally killed during riots in Kolkata.
The Direct Action Day riots triggered further communal violence between Muslims and Hindus/Sikhs in Noakhali, Bihar, and Punjab. Shooting emotionally intense scenes involving large-scale bloodshed can be extremely taxing, especially in the kind of emotionally charged narratives her husband, filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, is known for.
Talking about her cleansing process, Pallavi told IANS, "Well, I had to try different things. I had to listen to some music, go out for a drive. A lot of us had different ways by which we finally managed to get the images out of our heads. But yes, they stay with you for a long time. A similar thing happened during The Kashmir Files as well, when we were doing research and interviewing so many people".
She further added, "The horrible stories that we got to hear did affect us a lot. But I think what is more important for both Vivek and me is the larger picture - what we are trying to do here. We are trying to present a kind of reality that nobody knows about, something that was systematically hidden from us. And if we are going to uncover those truths, then yes, there will be a lot of discomfort for us. We are ready for that. But of course, it takes its toll sometimes; we are human beings".
Presented by Tej Narayan Agarwal and I Am Buddha, the film is being released worldwide by Zee Studios and will hit theatres on September 5, 2025.
