Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's upcoming movie The Bengal Files continues to face hurdles ahead of its release on September 5. The film, based on the Great Calcutta Killings of 1946, has been caught in a political storm in West Bengal, with multiple FIRs filed against it, protests during its trailer launch and allegations of state interference.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV's Padmaja Joshi, Agnihotri was asked whether he believed the film would ultimately be released in Bengal, given the disruptions during the trailer launch in Kolkata.
Reacting to this, the filmmaker said, "I have full faith in political powers. Why would only a very insane, crazy or a vicious or nasty person want to stop a film from releasing which talks about the great glory of Bengal, the great heritage of Bengal, which talks about the renaissance of Bengal, which in Hindi cinema nobody has ever talked about, and what we have lost because of sinister politics, dangerous politics of criminal violence? Why would a state government want to stop a film that is about illegal immigrants and they're taking away the jobs of the local Bengalis? I do not understand, somebody has to be very vicious, nasty, crazy or a stupid person."
He claimed support was already building globally for the film, adding, "The good news is that we, the people of Bharat, are rising up today. Only the NRIs for Bengal in the US and Silicon Valley - they have started a petition requesting the President of India to ensure that this film is released because it's about the concrete Bengal history. It will help release the generational trauma of Bengalis and will start healing the entire generation. And it also talks about the future, what we should not be doing."
Agnihotri further questioned the political intent behind the opposition to the film. He asked, "If the need be, the one thing I want to ask - somebody who has taken the oath of the Indian Constitution, how can that person and why should that person stop a film which is approved by CBFC? This is such an important question. I want everybody to think about it. Does that person have a right to take the oath of our Constitution, which says they will protect us?"
Recounting the chaos during the attempted trailer launch in Kolkata, the filmmaker accused the police of siding with the ruling party workers.
He said, "One thing I want to tell you - that day, when this chaos happened, police cut our wires, stopped us from doing it, a stampede took place because a lot of unknown people, sources have told me, were TMC party workers, and a stampede happened. So many women journalists were hit and scuffled, and they sent me messages. I can show it to you. Including my wife, people were pushing them, hitting them, the police were standing there and laughing, and they did not even protect one person; they did not stop the stampede. All my videos are on television, in public. You can see that and decide for yourself. What are the intentions of the state government?"
Agnihotri called the disruption unprecedented in cinema history. "For the first time in the history of cinema, anybody's trailer has been stopped, and it is so appropriate to make it on August 16, Direct Action Day, which took place in Calcutta, and 40,000 people were killed. If somebody tries to stop it to appease a certain vote bank, I don't know. Or maybe the person has lost his or her mind, I don't know. People have to decide that on the 5th of September. You know, speech cannot be selected."
Background
The Bengal Files have also been the subject of legal battles. On July 31, Vivek Agnihotri and his wife Pallavi Joshi approached a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court seeking dismissal of two FIRs filed against the film.
The first FIR was registered in Murshidabad district soon after the teaser campaign was launched. Another was later filed at Lake Town Police Station in Kolkata. The main allegation in the FIRs was that the film might contain sensitive material that could hamper communal harmony in the state.
On August 4, Justice Jay Sengupta of the Calcutta High Court imposed an interim stay on both FIRs, granting temporary relief to the filmmakers.
The Bengal Files is the third part of Vivek Agnihotri's "Files" trilogy. The series began with The Tashkent Files in 2019, followed by The Kashmir Files in 2022, which sparked significant controversy but went on to become a box-office success.
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has previously faced criticism for alleged gag orders on films and events on what critics called "flimsy" grounds.