Doing drama, dividing people: Kunal Ghosh vs Vivek Agnihotri over The Bengal Files

Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh on Saturday criticised filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri after the trailer launch of his film The Bengal Files was stopped by Kolkata Police. The film is based on the 1946 Calcutta riots. Ghosh accused Agnihotri of using cinema to push a political agenda, stating that his work is designed to divide people and create controversy.

“Vivek Agnihotri is doing drama. As a filmmaker, what he makes is politically motivated and intended to divide people,” Kunal Ghosh said.

The TMC leader questioned why Agnihotri had not made films on incidents in BJP-led states. “Why hasn’t he made The Gujarat Files, highlighting the riots and the story of Bilkis Bano? Why no UP Files, MP Files or Manipur Files? He has come to Bengal only to serve the BJP’s agenda and malign the state,” Ghosh added.

Ghosh further said, “He should be declared persona non grata and evicted from Bengal. That’s not being done only because this is a democratic state.” He added that Agnihotri remains in Bengal out of respect for its cultural legacy, saying, “This is the land of Satyajit Ray.”

Ghosh challenged Agnihotri to make films like UP Files, Gujarat Files and MP Files first before focusing on Bengal. “If he has courage, let him first make UP Files, Gujarat Files, MP Files, then talk about Bengal,” he added.

The TMC leader also said Agnihotri was acting on behalf of the BJP. “Just as the BJP is trying to insult Bengal and Bengalis, Vivek Agnihotri is their wooden puppet. He should be thrown out of the state. But since this is Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal, and we believe in democracy, no one will stop him,” he said.

The special screening of Vivek Agnihotri’s film in Kolkata was halted after the venue for the trailer launch of the film was cancelled. Agnihotri alleged that the organisers informed him the cancellation was due to political pressure in the state, as per news agency IANS.

He added that when they approached another multiplex chain, they faced similar concerns about political interference, which also prevented the screening. Expressing his disappointment, Agnihotri said it was saddening for a filmmaker to be unable to show his film in a theatre.

"Organisers told me that they can't show it because of political pressure. Then we talked to another multiplex chain. They also told us that there is a lot of political pressure and we will get stuck in a lot of trouble. And that's why we can't show it either. So when we didn't have any option left, where would we go? What would we do? What could be more saddening for a filmmaker than not being able to show his film in a theatre? The thing for which it was made. If someone writes a book and it is not shown in a bookshop, then we don't have any option,” Agnihotri said.

Furthermore, Agnihotri alleged that it was an attack on the democratic rights of people, as the censor board had cleared the film and “the Calcutta High Court stayed a ban on it”.

‘The Bengal Files’ delves into the communal violence in undivided Bengal during the 1940s. The film is slated to be released in theatres on September 5.

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