Veteran actor and BJP politician Mithun Chakraborty fiercely defended The Bengal Files, a Vivek Agnihotri-directed film set for release on September 5, 2025, against accusations of being a propaganda piece. Speaking to media in Mumbai, he slammed critics for labeling truth-telling as politically motivated, spotlighting the film’s focus on the 1946 Calcutta Killings and Noakhali riots. Amidst a storm of controversy, including a halted Kolkata trailer launch on August 16 and FIRs against Agnihotri.
A Hard-Hitting Historical Narrative
The Bengal Files, the final chapter of Agnihotri’s Files trilogy after The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022), dives into the brutal communal violence of 1946’s Direct Action Day, triggered by the Muslim League’s call for a separate homeland, which claimed up to 10,000 lives in Calcutta. Chakraborty plays a partially mute “madman,” a riot victim with a torched tongue, embodying the story’s conscience. His transformation—eating from dustbins and painting his tongue black for authenticity—stunned co-star Darshan Kumaar. The film, also starring Anupam Kher as Mahatma Gandhi and Pallavi Joshi, aims to unveil a “suppressed” chapter of Bengal’s history, per Wikipedia.
Controversy and Political Firestorm
The film’s trailer launch in Kolkata faced abrupt cancellation by a theater chain, reportedly under political pressure from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which branded it “politically motivated.” Agnihotri alleged sabotage, shifting the event to a hotel, only for police to intervene, citing a missing amusement license. An FIR filed by Santanu Mukherjee, grandson of freedom fighter Gopal Chandra Mukherjee, accused the film of distorting his grandfather’s legacy. Chakraborty dismissed such opposition as fear of truth, saying, “In Bengal, FIRs are distributed like kurmura,” and urging youth to learn about Noakhali’s 40,000 deaths.
Mithun’s Stand: Truth vs. Propaganda
Chakraborty, a National Award winner for Mrigayaa (1976), argued that depicting historical realities—like the Noakhali genocide or Calcutta Killings—isn’t propaganda but a duty. “Shouldn’t our generation know what happened? It’s surprising nobody wants to face reality,” he said. He criticized “pseudo-secularists” and “pseudo-intellectuals” for preemptively attacking the film without seeing it, echoing sentiments from The Kashmir Files’ 2022 backlash.
A Call for Reflection
The Bengal Files’ 204-minute, A-rated runtime promises a gut-wrenching dive into history, per Wikipedia. Chakraborty’s defense raises a provocative question: Can cinema unearth painful truths without being weaponized? As India’s 2025 elections loom, the film’s release could spark vital discourse or deepen divides. With Agnihotri’s meticulous research praised by Chakraborty, The Bengal Files demands viewers confront history head-on, challenging the nation to balance truth with unity in a polarized age.
-By Manoj H