Vivek Agnihotri on The Bengal Files controversy; “Mamata Banerjee cannot hide the truth of Bengal” : Bollywood News

Vivek, The Bengal Files is days away from release, but there is no clarity on whether it will be released in West Bengal?
I am appealing through this interview to West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to let people see the truth about what really happened in Bengal, and why it was divided into two parts. She can’t hide the truth. Nobody can. Let people see what I have to say about the genocide that happened in Bengal. There are so many films on the Nazi Holocaust and the bombing of Hiroshima. No one has ever stopped them from having their say. Then why should Bengal not see the truth about what happened to the State?

Vivek Agnihotri on The Bengal Files controversy; “Mamata Banerjee cannot hide the truth of Bengal”You are getting death threats?
Yes. I mean, I have a family, a wife, and a child. Of course, I’m worried about the state of affairs. The problem is, we have a history of making socio-political films in this country. Many great filmmakers have made them. But now it has become very difficult to make such films. How many of them actually tell the truth?

You know, we’ve had great films on the freedom struggle, the communal riots, the holocausts in India and abroad. So if I’m reaching into the past to tell a story that even I didn’t know much about, why am I being targeted?

A lot of so-called historical cinema in our country is very subjective?
Yes, many of them are impressionistic. They create certain perceptions in people’s minds. Imagine—in the Hindi film industry, nobody has made a film on the Partition that actually happened in Bengal. Bengal was partitioned twice, not once. But nobody knows this. People see films like Gadar and think Partition only happened in Punjab. Even filmmakers who claim to make truthful films about Partition did not tell the truth. Why? Because most writers and filmmakers in Bombay came from Punjab.

The Bengal Files is a very difficult, painful film to watch, but it is also very engrossing.

But you have the family of one of the historical characters, Gopal Mukherjee, coming forward to say that you are not showing him in a good light?
See, Subhash, this is what happens in political films. At the last minute, many people come forward making claims. Gopal Mukherjee’s grandson has been talking to me on the phone for a very long time. I know him. But he is also a member of the TMC, so he has political compulsions. I don’t know why he is saying what he’s saying.

Do you think The Bengal Files will release in Bengal?
First, they cancelled our multiplex screening of the trailer. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that anybody could stop a trailer launch in a five-star hotel. I’d never heard of that before.

I don’t want to comment on Mamata Banerjee. But I know one thing: no sane person would ever want to stop this film in Bengal. This film is going to heal the Bengali community. It will bring out the glory and the great renaissance of Bengal for every child and young person in this country. Bengal will be seen in a different light.

The kind of pain and trauma Bengal has suffered needs to be acknowledged. Only someone who is an idiot, or very sinister—or someone with compulsions like being part of the Muslim League—would want to cover up the truth.

As a filmmaker, I feel this is a very sad commentary on how limited freedom of expression is in our country. Legally, no one can stop the film. Constitutionally, no one can stop it. It can only be stopped illegally or unconstitutionally. Anybody who has taken oath to the Indian Constitution cannot and should not stop it.

But if someone does, then people will know democracy is under threat. I will take the legal and constitutional route. Whatever I have to do, I will do. I’m not someone who will give up. I’m a fighter. I will fight for this film. And this fight is not only for the film—it is for all the freedom fighters of this country, and for all the people who suffered in the genocide of Bengal, for all their families. I will fight on their behalf.

Also Read: Vivek Agnihotri warns of legal action if The Bengal Files release is blocked in West Bengal

More Pages: The Bengal Files Box Office Collection

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