Vivek Agnihotri Alleges West Bengal Govt Threatening Theatres Over The Bengal Files

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has alleged that the West Bengal government and police officials are pressuring theatre owners not to screen his upcoming film, The Bengal Files, prompting the producers to consider legal action.

The film, which revisits the communal riots of August 1946 in Kolkata known as Direct Action Day, has already faced controversy, including disruptions at its trailer launch and some Bengali actors distancing themselves from the project.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai ahead of the film’s Friday release, Agnihotri said, “Whatever the West Bengal government is doing is illegal and unconstitutional. We are planning to file a writ petition, but will decide based on what happens tomorrow, and accordingly, we will take legal action.”

Agnihotri claimed that theatre owners have reported being threatened by police, who warned of “dire consequences” if they screen the film. “They are like, ‘What will we do if they barge in and destroy our property?’” he said.

Co-producer Pallavi Joshi, Agnihotri’s wife and one of the film’s lead actors, has appealed to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking intervention. Agnihotri emphasized that the film has been dubbed in Bengali “because lakhs of Bengali people want to watch it.”

The Bengal Files is the final installment in Agnihotri’s The Files trilogy, following The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022). The film stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Saswata Chatterjee, and Darshan Kumarr.