Unofficial ban hits the release of 'Bengal Files' in state

The release of filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's highly anticipated and controversial film, "The Bengal Files," has hit a roadblock in West Bengal, with no movie halls in Kolkata and across the state screening the film despite its nationwide release on September 5.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

The absence of the movie from local theatres has ignited a fierce political battle between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with accusations of an "unofficial ban" dominating the discourse. While the TMC insists there is no formal prohibition, the film's makers and BJP leaders allege that pressure from the state government and police has coerced theatre owners into avoiding the screening, raising questions about freedom of expression and censorship in the state.

Director Vivek Agnihotri's "The Bengal Files," the concluding part of his Files Trilogy, revisits the bloody August 1946 riots in Calcutta, sparked by the Muslim League's call for Direct Action Day. Set against the backdrop of communal unrest, the film claims to expose the "genocide of Bengali Hindus," and features a cast led by Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, and Darshan Kumarr.

The nationwide release, however, quickly became a point of contention in West Bengal.

The BJP seized the opportunity to criticise the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya took to social media, stating, “ The Bengal Files, a film on the genocide of Bengali Hindus, has released worldwide, except in West Bengal and Pakistan. Mamata Banerjee should wear this as a badge of honour: not only has she insulted the sacrifice of Bengali Hindus who fought for their own homeland, but she has also placed them in the same bracket as a radicalised nation.”