Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's upcoming movie The Bengal Files is set to release on September 5. The political drama, based on the Great Calcutta Killings of 1946, is the third instalment in his "Files" franchise after The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files. Even before its release, the film has been surrounded by controversies, with its trailer sparking heated debate online.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV's Shiv Aroor, Vivek Agnihotri addressed the criticism, the loneliness of working outside mainstream Bollywood, and why he continues to walk his own path alongside his wife and collaborator, Pallavi Joshi.
"I make political films. I'm not a politician... I knew there will be opposition. I knew people will call it propaganda. They will say BJP. They will say right wing. All that I expect," he said. But what came as a surprise to him was the attempt to restrict the film's promotion. "I never expected that anybody can ban the trailer of a film. Not in my wildest dreams," he added.
Vivek Agnihotri shared that he prefers telling stories that many shy away from. "I would rather spend my filmmaking career making movies on taboo subjects and telling uncomfortable truths, rather than taking the audience to la la land, as if nothing is wrong with the country," he said.
Pointing to parallels in global cinema, he added, "There are hundreds of films on World War. Why shouldn't there be at least one film on a tragedy (like this). If there was no Direct Action Day or Noakhali genocide of Hindus, there wouldn't have been any Partition".
When asked about the challenges of not being part of mainstream Bollywood, "Yes, it is a lonely road, but it's a road that we've chosen to walk on. So we don't expect anyone to hold our hand and anyone to tweet about our film saying, 'Oh, what a wonderful film they've made, and I hope that it, you know, makes them happy and gets them a lot, you know, lots of money, and it does silver jubilee' and stuff like that," she said.
Pallavi further added, "So we don't have anyone in the film industry who's going to tweet that for us, but we also knew what we had signed up for. So it's just the two of us, and I think the two of us are enough for each other."
The filmmaker also reflected on how things changed after The Kashmir Files. "Right after Kashmir Files, lots of doors opened, but it's your choice whether you want to enter those doors or not," he said.
Instead of accepting offers from mainstream circles, has chosen to remain independent. "I follow Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's mantra Ekla Chalo Re. I walk alone. I live alone, and I enjoy being alone that way. You have no baggage, and nobody is around you. I mean Pallavi and I don't go to parties. We have childhood friends. That's all, that's our world and our family," he said.
He added that this independence allows him to stay true to his vision. "We like to be alone because it frees you from making films which people want to hear, to tell stories which people want to hear. Like, politicians and religious leaders, they give easy answers... We like telling uncomfortable truths and Ekla Chalo Re is my mantra," the director concluded.
Background
The Bengal Files continues Vivek Agnihotri's interest in politically charged and controversial subjects, following the success of The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022). The film stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumaar, Puneet Issar, Govind Namdev, Mohan Kapur, Palomi Ghosh, Divya Palat and others.
The Bengal Files is directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Pallavi Joshi.