In a recent press conference, Vivek Agnihotri opened up about his side of the story while working on his upcoming film The Bengal Files.
The controversy around filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s upcoming movie The Bengal Files has taken a political turn after the trailer launch event in Kolkata was abruptly stopped. Agnihotri accused the Trinamool Congress-led Bengal government of using police pressure to block the screening on August 16. The film, earlier titled The Delhi Files, explores the communal unrest of the 1940s in Bengal, focusing on the Great Calcutta Killings (Direct Action Day) and the Noakhali riots. This is the third installment in Agnihotri’s ‘Files’ franchise, following The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files.
Talking about the political struggle, Agnihotri said, “The real question is who stopped the screening? This is extremely scary and worrisome. Those who take an oath to uphold the Constitution have a responsibility to protect the rights of citizens. But lekin agar rakshak hi bhakshak ban jaye to koi kya lad sakta hai? (if the protector turns into the predator, how can anyone fight back?)”
Agnihotri claimed that his film received an impressive response in the United States. On his foreign visit, he came to know about the FIRs that were filed against him. “Several FIRs were filed against the makers in Bengal,” he said. “Members of the TMC started filing FIRs in every district,” he added. The director argued that instead of opposing the film, “the Bengal government should have welcomed us because a detailed movie on the culture of Bengal could not have been made otherwise.”
Agnihotri’s film was initially planned to be released in cinemas. “We had all the permissions, but I was told unofficially that the trailer launch cannot happen there as they feared stone pelting. We called journalists to watch the trailer. As soon as it was played, the hotel manager suddenly came on stage and said it could not be screened,” Agnihotri claimed, adding that preparations had been made in front of the manager beforehand.“When the media asked the manager about the issue, we got information that the police and TMC members were on their way to stop the release,” Agnihotri claimed.
The Bengal Files
Produced by Pallavi Joshi and Abhishek Agarwal, the film stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Saswata Chatterjee, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Pallavi Joshi, and Darshan Kumar. The Bengal Files is slated for release on September 5, 2025.
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