A petition in the Calcutta High Court seeks a stay on The Bengal Files release over the portrayal of a freedom fighter, while the producer urges the President’s intervention amid controversy.
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Kolkata: The release of Vivek Agnihotri’s upcoming film The Bengal Files has sparked a legal and political storm in West Bengal. Scheduled to release on September 5, the film is based on the communal riots of August 1946 in Kolkata, widely known as the Great Calcutta Killings.
On Thursday, a petition was moved before the Calcutta High Court by Santanu Mukherjee, grandson of freedom fighter Gopal Chandra Mukherjee, seeking a stay on the film’s release. He alleged that the protagonist in the film is a portrayal of his grandfather in a defamatory light.
Santanu’s lawyer argued that:
- Gopal Chandra Mukherjee, who ran a goat meat shop in Bowbazar during the 1940s, has been depicted with the derogatory nickname “Patha” (Bengali for goat).
- The filmmaker wrongly showed him as being involved in the Direct Action Day events of August 16, 1946.
- In reality, Mukherjee was an eminent freedom fighter, not complicit in communal violence.
Justice Amrita Sinha, while taking up the petition, noted that the film may also be fictional and emphasized that no order can be passed without hearing from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Union of India. The matter was adjourned until these parties present their arguments.
The court also questioned why the petition was filed just a day before the film’s release, suggesting urgency might weaken the case.
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Allegations of “Unofficial Ban” in West Bengal
Adding to the controversy, actor-producer Pallavi Joshi, who also stars in the film, wrote an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu. In the letter, she alleged that theatre owners in West Bengal were being threatened and intimidated by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers to prevent the screening of The Bengal Files.
Joshi wrote:
“There is no official ban, yet an unofficial ban silences the film before people can see it. This is cinema of truth. But truth also needs protection.”
She appealed to the President to safeguard the constitutional right of free expression and ensure the peaceful release of the film.
Despite no official prohibition, several theatres and multiplexes in Kolkata and across West Bengal have refused to screen the movie, citing lack of slots or prior commitments. Among them:
- Navina Cinema: Already booked for Baaghi 4 and Dhumketu.
- Menoka Cinema: Running The Conjuring: Last Rites and Bengali hit Bahurupi.
- Priya Cinema: Screening Baaghi 4, Ahana: The Light Within, and Jhor.
- Multiplex chains like PVR Inox, Cinepolis, and SVF Cinemas are also not showing the film.
Meanwhile, the Eastern India Motion Picture Association (EIMPA) refrained from commenting on why no slots were allotted for The Bengal Files.
The controversy intensified after the film’s trailer launch in Kolkata was disrupted on August 17. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused Agnihotri of attempting to polarize society through a “propaganda film” aimed at serving the BJP’s political agenda.
On the other hand, Agnihotri took to social media urging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to allow a smooth release of his film, alleging that theatre owners were facing political pressure.
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The Film and Its Cast
The Bengal Files is the final part of Agnihotri’s “Files Trilogy”, following The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022). According to the makers, the film portrays the “long-suppressed truth” of the:
- Hindu genocide on Direct Action Day (1946)
- Horrors of the Noakhali massacre
- Trauma of Partition
The film features Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Saswata Chatterjee, Darshan Kumarr, and Sourav Das in lead roles.
