The Bengal Files is weeks away from its theatrical release on September 5, 2025 and as it is with every Vivek Agnihotri film, this one too is creating controversy. After The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files, the filmmaker has set the third piece of his Files trilogy in West Bengal, which was initially titled The Delhi Files.
According to the makers, they changed the title of the film to The Bengal Files as the backdrop of the movie's storyline centres around the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings and the Noakhali riots.
The timing of the film is also allegedly a bit too much on the nose with the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections expected to be held in March-April 2026.
For now, The Bengal Files controversy centres around Gopal 'Patha' Mukherjee, who played a pivotal role in protecting Hindus during the 1946 riots.
Who Was Gopal Patha
Gopal Patha, whose real name was Gopal Mukherjee, was a key figure during the Great Calcutta Killings in 1946.
In an interview with The Print, Gopal Patha's grandson Santanu Mukherjee spoke about his grandfather's role in the communal clashes and killings that rocked the city after the Muslim League's call Direct Action Day on August 16, 1946.
"My grandfather took up arms during the Great Calcutta Killings to save Hindus from marauding Muslim rioters that were killing men, raping women and burning down Hindu properties. But he bore no ill will towards Muslims," Santanu Mukherjee said, adding that his grandfather also saved innocent Muslims during the Great Calcutta Killings.
Santanu Mukherjee's claims mirror Gopal Patha's comments in a 1997 interview with journalist Andrew Whitehead.
The journalist asked Gopal Patha, "If your boys found a Muslim woman alone, would they misbehave?"
In his response, he said, "I had given strict orders not to misbehave with women because a person's character is very important. We couldn't have achieved anything by misbehaving with women, that person would be a renegade.
"I had given strict orders not to misbehave with women, not kill any women. In fact, we have seen in our history, that after misbehaving with women, even Ravan was destroyed. So, I had given strict orders to my boys. One was do not loot, and another was do not misbehave with women."
Later in his blog, Andrew Whitehead also wrote about Gopal Patha explaining that his nickname of 'Patha', meaning goat in Bengali, came from the family meat shop on College Street in Kolkata.
How The Bengal Files Trailer Portrays Gopal Patha
In the trailer of the film, the character of Gopal Patha, sporting a prominent red tilak on his forehead, sits in front of an idol of Goddess Kali and addresses a gathering of people.
He says, "Bharat Hinduon Ka Rashtra Hai. Par iss yuddh mein Hindu haar rahe hain. Aur jeet kaun raha hai? Jinnah. Kyunki hum sab nashe mein choor hain and iss nashe ka naam hai Gandhi ki ahimsa (India is a Hindu nation. But the Hindus are losing this war. And who's winning? Jinnah. Because we all are intoxicated. And the name of that intoxication is Gandhi's non-violence)."
Gopal Patha is also seen hacking people left, right, and centre. In the film, Bengali actor Saurav Das -- who was the star campaigner for the ruling Trinamool Congress party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls -- plays the role of Gopal Patha.
What Vivek Agnihotri Said About The Controversy Around Gopal Patha
At the trailer launch event of The Bengal Files in Delhi on Monday, Vivek Agnihotri addressed the controversy around the portrayal of Gopal Patha in his film.
The director said Gopal Patha in his film is an inspired character and not central to the plot.
"I will not go into his history. Watch Santanu's interview. I can give you all the links. There is an interview of Gopal Mukherjee on BBC. In that interview, what he has said, we have only shown that much.
"I have nothing to do with Gopal Mukherjee's life, politics. He was a hero and I have shown him as a hero... I respect Gopal Mukherjee a lot. His grandsons work with TMC. There is a compulsion there... They have done it legally. We are giving a legal answer to that," Vivek Agnihotri said at the event.
Actor Saurav Das, who plays the role of Gopal Patha in The Bengal Files, has now distanced himself from the film in the wake of the controversy.
"I only knew about my character. I was not aware of the script. That's how work is done nowadays. It's a very strong character that I was offered. And it's a Hindi film where actors from all over the country have worked. I am nobody compared to the stars who have worked in the film," he told TV9 Bangla.
"If I play Hitler one day that wouldn't turn me into a Nazi supporter," he said, underscoring how he was just an actor playing a character in a film.
What Gopal Patha's Family Is Saying About The Controversy
Gopal Patha's grandson Santanu Mukherjee has sent a legal notice to Vivek Agnihotri for maligning his grandfather's name, followed by filing an FIR against The Bengal Files filmmaker. He has alleged that the director referred to Gopal Patha as "Ek Tha Kasai Gopal Patha (Once Upon A Time There Was A Butcher Called Gopal Patha)" in a personal reel.
In a statement to India Today, Santanu Mukherjee said, "My grandfather was called Kasai, also called Patha, which means goat -- and that is disrespectful. He was not a butcher. He was a wrestler, a freedom fighter, and a member of the Anushilan Samiti. His ideology was aligned with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and he worked closely with several other freedom fighters. How can anyone reduce him to such labels?"
Santanu Mukherjee also alleged that The Bengal Files director didn't reach out to the family during the making of the film. "Vivek Agnihotri should research more on this. From where did they get this wrong information? He has not contacted us either. In protest, we have sent a legal notice to Vivek Agnihotri and also filed an FIR."
The Bengal Files is up for its theatrical release on September 5, 2025. It boasts of credible actors as part of the ensemble cast including Vivek Agnohotri's wife, actor Pallavi Joshi; Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Rajesh Khera, Puneet Issar, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
A controversy ensures that a film dominates headlines, especially in the age of social media. There's also a section of people who insist that people shouldn't look at movies as medium to impart a history lesson, but then there is the other section that slams the culture of movies that aim to take liberties with history under the license of 'creative freedom'.
While the jury is still out on whether The Bengal Files has distorted historical facts, this film is bound to remain in the news for days to come.