The trailer of Vivek Agnihotri’s new film, The Bengal Files was unveiled by the makers on Saturday. It stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumaar and Simratt Kaur in pivotal roles and tells the story of Direct Action Day and the 1946 Calcutta killings.
The trailer opens with a dinner time conversation between a family. The film seems to be set in two timelines. It shows Calcutta during the pre-partition time. A voiceover declares, “This is Bengal. There are two constitutions here: One of Hindus and one of Muslims.” Then there are some brutal visuals of violent killings. After that, Anupam, who plays Gandhi, is seen clicking a photo with Jinnah. Gandhi calls Jinnah his ‘brother’ and says, “Indian Muslims are all converts. Everyone was a Hindu before.” Jinnah retorts this by saying that Hindus and Muslims are not same. Gandhi is shown to be gullible and helpless while Jinnah appears as cunning. The trailer is filled with multiple visuals of violent, bloody and gory killings. Mithun appears for a brief time towards the end.
The film is the third part of the trilogy of films that include, The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022). Vivek’s films are accused by some of presenting a manipulative side of history and distorting facts to present a polarising narrative. Some refer to his films as propaganda pieces.
The Bengal Files is written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Abhishek Agarwal and Pallavi Joshi. It is presented by Tej Narayan Agarwal and I Am Buddha. Shot by Attar Singh Saini and edited by Shankh Rajyadhyaksha, the film is set to be released in theatres on September 5.
