.jpeg "Featured Image")
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s new film, The Bengal Files, has been released in theaters. This final installment of his Files trilogy was eagerly awaited. The film’s trailer and Vivek’s interviews were in the headlines, and controversy deepened, especially in West Bengal. The pre-release promotions emphasized that the story is based on the pre-independence era of 1946-47. The backdrop is Bengal, where horrific communal riots occurred, with the Muslim League carrying out a large-scale Hindu massacre. Sohrawardy and Ghulam Sarwar, at Jinnah’s behest, played a direct role. However, when we begin watching the film, it’s not just the pre-independence violence and the corpses of those killed in Hindu-Muslim riots that scream; the present also smolders.
The film also mentions the elections taking place in West Bengal. In the story, writer and director Vivek Agnihotri cleverly connects the violence, particularly in Murshidabad, to the violence during the partition of Pakistan. The film repeatedly asserts that West Bengal’s situation is like Kashmir or that Murshidabad is like Mini Pakistan. Simultaneously, the film raises several questions. The narrative suggests that many historical mistakes occurred during the country’s independence, and the helplessness of Gandhi, the conflicts between the National Congress and the Muslim League, etc., were the cause of the Murshidabad violence. The film portrays the 1946-47 riots and the horrific bloodshed and the present situation in Murshidabad.
The film begins with a brief discussion at a round table between Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru about the partition of India and Pakistan. But the real story begins after this. The story jumps directly into the current situation in Murshidabad. A Dalit girl has been kidnapped; her name is Geeta Mandal. Local MLA Sardar Hussaini is accused, a role played by Bengali film actor Saswata Chatterjee. The Murshidabad Dalit girl kidnapping and rape case has become high profile. The CBI investigation has started following the High Court’s order.
CBI officer Puneet Issar assigns the investigation of the entire incident to Shiva Pandit (Darshan Kumar). Shiva himself is a Kashmiri Pandit. He has also faced atrocities with his family in the valley. When Shiva reaches Murshidabad, he is stunned by the situation there. The fear of MLA Sardar Hussaini and his people is evident. The local police also tremble. Shiva meets an elderly woman named Bharti Banerjee (Pallavi Joshi). Shiva learns that Bharti Banerjee knows everything about Geeta Mandal, so he wants to talk to her, but Bharti has forgotten everything. Bharti had participated in the freedom struggle.
Because Bharti Banerjee witnessed the carnage in 1946-47, the cruelty of Muslim League leader and Pakistan supporter Ghulam Sarwar, the way her parents and her friend Amarjeet Arora (Eklavya Sood) were treated, she is still in shock. Seventy-eight years after independence, the cruel Ghulam cannot leave her mind. The story goes into flashback from here, and then the Hindu massacre during the Muslim League’s Direct Action Day for the occupation of Kolkata is shown in a very gruesome manner. But along with this, the film also shows Gopal Patha (Saurav Das), who did not let Kolkata go to Pakistan, who does not agree with Gandhi’s ideals, and drives away the ‘goons’ of the Muslim League.
In its treatment, the story of the film keeps going back and forth between history and the present. Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s main aim was to show the Hindu massacre. In this regard, this film also furthers the much-discussed offering and perception of his The Kashmir Files, which showed the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits, due to which a large population of Hindus migrated to other parts of the country. Kashmir screams again and again in this film. The character of CBI officer Shiva Pandit is used to mention Kashmiri Pandits once again in the film. The film repeatedly wants to say that the situation in West Bengal is the same as that of Kashmir, which is under the influence of Pakistan. Sardar Hussaini is accused in the film of allowing infiltration and making it his vote bank.
In the film, Anupam Kher plays the role of Gandhi, but his helplessness is portrayed throughout the film. The film shows that he could not make any concrete decision on the partition, could not express any opinion on the Kolkata and Noakhali violence by the Muslim League, allows Jinnah to do what he wants, and when Gopal Patha takes action against the Muslim League, he asks him to lay down his arms. In one scene, Gopal Patha severely criticizes Gandhi, who is on a hunger strike. Should we remain silent if Muslims kill us, should Hindu women remain silent? Gopal Patha asks Gandhi direct questions.
The film has no songs, but the recitation of Gurudev Tagore’s poems is recorded in the background to evoke Bengali sentiments, which makes many scenes of the film poignant. Mithun Chakraborty, in a small role, leaves his impact. He was also wronged, he is a victim, and he continues to support Shiva Pandit in his mission. Darshan Kumar and Simrat Kaur, as young Bharti Banerjee, have acted very impressively. But in the same way that horrific violence was filmed in The Kashmir Files, brutal violence is once again shown in this film.
Now the important question is, will The Bengal Files also be able to attract a large audience in the cinema hall like The Kashmir Files? It remains to be seen. However, it can certainly be said that the issue of Kashmiri Pandits shown in The Kashmir Files has been at the center of the national debate for years. But can the issue of the Murshidabad violence in West Bengal be compared with the same weight? The story of the film, with the help of a fantasy, describes the dangerous situation in Murshidabad versus the whole of West Bengal, holding the partition of Pakistan and the Muslims remaining in India responsible; will the general audience be able to connect with the pain of Kashmiri Pandits? It remains to be seen.
Film- The Bengal Files
Director- Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri
Actors- Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Simrat Kaur, Saswata Chatterjee, Puneet Issar, etc.
Theater release
Rating-3*
