Mumbai: Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Bengal Files’, which explores Bengal’s Direct Action Day and the 1946 Calcutta killings, has landed in controversy even before its release.
Defending the film, veteran actor and former Rajya Sabha MP Mithun Chakraborty lashed out at the detractors.
“Why are they calling it a propaganda film? If you’re making a film to tell the truth, that becomes a propaganda tool? This is the problem with so-called secularism and pseudo-intellectualism!” said Mithun.
“It’s because of secularists and pseudo-intellectualists that controversies like these happen. Who are these secularists? One eats beef and the other eats pork. The one who shouldn’t touch the other [food item] should become a secularist? Secularism is when one eats both,” the veteran was quoted as saying by News18.
The trailer launch of the film, scheduled to be held in Kolkata on August 16, was abruptly cancelled by the theatre, and the event had to be shifted to a hotel.
Reacting to the trailer launch being halted in Kolkata, Mithun said, “All of it was pre-planned. How could they react so strongly to a trailer that they hadn’t even watched? The truth showcased in this film chronicles events that took place before I was even born. I didn’t know about them. History states that killings took place in Noakhali. But why they happened, no one knew. No one has read about the Great Calcutta Killings. Aap ko sachchaai jaan ne mein taqleef kya hai?”
“40,000 Hindus were massacred and butchered. It was a genocide that happened in Noakhali. What’s so objectionable about this? The story of the Partition is very bizarre. People don’t like telling those stories because they’re scared that the truth will be out. Why do we not know what happened after the genocide in Noakhali? Why was this hidden until now? Why is the Great Calcutta Killing not a part of literature? We should know about our history,” he added.
For the unversed, freedom fighter Gopal Chandra Mukherjee’s grandson Shantanu Mukherjee lodged a complaint against Agnihotri for distorting his grandfather’s identity and image in ‘The Bengal Files.’
Shantanu, whose grandfather played an important role during the Calcutta Riots of 1946, has demanded an apology from the filmmaker for hurting the sentiments of his family.
Three FIRs have been filed against Agnihotri in West Bengal.
Netizens have been calling out Agnihotri for making another ‘propaganda’ film after ‘The Tashkent Files’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’.
‘The Bengal Files’ actor Saswata Chatterjee has distanced himself from the controversies.
‘The Bengal Files’ also stars Darshan Kumar, Pallavi Joshi, Simrat Kaur, Anupam Kher, Namashi Chakraborty, Rajesh Khera, Puneet Issar, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Sourav Das and Mohan Kapur and is slated to be released on September 5.
