The Bengal Files: Director Vivek Agnihotri had no permission for trailer launch in Kolkata, says police insider

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri faced disruption during an event at ITC Royal Bengal on August 16. The trailer of The Bengal Files was suddenly stopped.

The hotel organisers, along with the police, allegedly interrupted the event. According to Agnihotri, last-minute instructions blocked the screening even though all permissions had been taken.

Now, a Kolkata Police officer has claimed that the filmmaker had no permission for the trailer launch. According to Kolkata Police sources, Agnihotri did not take any permission for public screening.

"If he has taken the required permission, he should at least show the media the documents," the insider told NDTV.

The trailer launch violated Section 3 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954, which controls film exhibitions in the state, according to officials.

The Bengal Files is set to release nationwide on September 27. The cast includes Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumaar. All four also featured in The Kashmir Files.

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar alleged that it was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s conspiracy to block the release of The Bengal Files. The film highlights communal violence in undivided Bengal during the 1940s, including Direct Action Day and the Noakhali riots.

According to the BJP leader, Bengal’s current situation mirrors this suppression.

“She (Mamata Banerjee) does not want the real history to come out. It is a democracy, and you cannot resist anyone from making films. There are many films that are made against the present government. It is a kind of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the director," Majumdar told ANI.

Vivek Agnihotri alleged that the authorities had cut all the wires. He said it was something that had never happened inside a private hotel.

“Who are these people who don’t want anyone to know about this? Who are these people hounding us? You all know the answer,” Agnihotri said to the audience present at the event.

The controversial filmmaker mentioned several FIRs and ongoing legal battles. A multiplex chain in Kolkata refused to show the trailer, he said.

Agnihotri alleged that the ITC hotel manager stopped the running event without reason even though the organisers had “full permission”.

Trinamool Congress hits back

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh has called Agnihotri's allegation “baseless”.

"If he has guts, first make 'Gujarat Files' on the Godhra riots, then go to Manipur, make 'Manipur Files'. Go to UP - Unnao, Hathras, Prayagraj, and make 'UP Files'. He is planted by a political force," Ghosh said.

"He made 'Kashmir Files' and now he is blaming West Bengal, distorting facts, and maligning West Bengal. He is doing his job assigned by the BJP," he added.