The trailer of the film, based on the 1946 Calcutta Riots, was slated to be launched at a five-star hotel in the city in the afternoon. Bollywood director Vivek Agnihotri on Saturday alleged that the Kolkata Police stopped the trailer launch of his film The Bengal Files. The trailer of the film, based on the 1946 Calcutta Riots, was slated to be launched at a five-star hotel in the city in the afternoon.
Police personnel present at the venue have refused to comment on the issue. ” If this is not dictatorship/fascism, then what is?…Law and order in your state has failed, and this is the reason that everyone supports ‘The Bengal Files’…” Vivek Agnihotri said.
“I have just got to know what some people came here (event venue in a private hotel) and cut all the wires. I don’t know on whose orders this is happening? You know who those people are behind us. After all tests and trials, this program was being held. The hotel managers still can’t tell us why we are not allowed to continue with our program…” he claimed.
Earlier on Friday, Agnihotri, in a video posted on his X account, had claimed that a leading movie theatre chain had cancelled his film’s trailer launch event. He had alleged that the theatre chain claimed “political pressure” as the reason behind the event’s cancellation. ‘The Bengal Files’ delves into the communal violence in undivided Bengal during the 1940s. The film will be released in theatres on September 5.
“Is there freedom of expression?”: Pallavi Joshi
Meanwhile, actor Pallavi Joshi also alleged that the trailer launch was not allowed. “ I absolutely did not like the way my film was stopped. Is there freedom of expression in this state? As filmmakers and actors, we are not able to screen what we have made. What is the threat they are feeling? Such a thing did not happen even in Kashmir. Can we derive that the situation in Kashmir is better than in Bengal?” she asked.
“See what is happening in Bengal today. And this is why films like ‘The Bengal Files’ are important. I want every person in India to watch this film to know the truth about Bengal. It is the state’s responsibility to give respect to artists…” she added.
