Vivek Agnihotri alleges The Bengal Files trailer launch was stopped

Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri released The Bengal Files trailer on Saturday, August 16. However, he hit a roadblock in Kolkata while releasing the trailer. He alleged that the special screening of the trailer at a theatre in Kolkata was halted after the venue was cancelled. Later, when he tried launching it in a banquet hall, the screening was stopped by the police.

Vivek Agnihotri calls out dictatorship

Talking to IANS exclusively, Vivek Agnihotri said that he was informed by the organisers that they had to cancel the screening owing to the political pressure in the state. He told IANS, "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".

Vivek further mentioned, "But my name is Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and I am not one of the losers. So I said, `No problem, we will do it in a banquet hall. This is my first time to launch the trailer of a film in a banquet hall like this. Our entire team had come here, after that, it got cancelled. I don`t know what they are afraid of. Why do they want to stop this film? Why do they want to suppress my voice? And a film which has got a CBFC certificate, which has been shown in 12 cities in America, that film is about Bengal".

He stated that the government of Bengal should have called him and told him to do it in the state because this film is about the people of Kolkata, who suffered on the Direct Action Day. He said, "I don`t know what they are afraid of. What is in their mind is that they want to suppress our voice. But I will not let this happen." 

Notably, first, the screening was stopped in a multiplex theatre in Kolkata. Later, an attempt was made to stop the screening of the film in a private hotel in Kolkata. Commenting on this Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri said that the most powerful person in the state is obstructing this, saying that when the program was going on, the wire was cut to stop it. "If this is not a dictatorship, then what is it called?", he added.

Vivek Agnihotri says Kolkata Police stopped the screening

He shared that the screening of the trailer was first stopped by a representative of the hotel around 1 pm, who said that permission had been granted for only a press conference. Later, as the trailer was shown again, suddenly five-six Kolkata Police officers entered the banquet hall and stopped the screening midway, he claimed.

The filmmaker was also seen engaged in a heated argument with the police personnel and the hotel staff. Agnihotri alleged that the screening was stopped at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and that her party leaders also threatened the hotel management to halt the trailer midway.

Addressing reporters, Agnihotri asserted that The Bengal Files, which is based on facts and has passed the censor hurdle, is being prevented from screening by the person who is at the helm of the administration in Bengal. Asked if he meant Banerjee, he said, "Yes, you are right." "The trailer is now being seen all over the country, but since it is based in Bengal, we wanted its launch here. They don`t want the atrocities on Bengali Hindus in 1946 and the fightback of people like Gopal Mukherjee to be shown in cinema. If it is a part of history, do you want to change history?" he told reporters.

"There can be only one reason behind such a move, to ignore the conspiracy to divide Bengal again. I wish to believe this government is not anti-Hindu," Agnihotri said.

(With inputs from agencies)