Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty has broken his silence on the ongoing controversy surrounding his upcoming film The Bengal Files. Speaking about the backlash, he said that any attempt to show historical reality is quickly labelled as “politically motivated.”Mithun on truth vs politics“The minute you show reality, it automatically becomes politically motivated. It’s surprising that nobody wants to face reality,” Mithun told IANS. He recalled the horrors of the Noakhali genocide and the Great Calcutta killings, events he admitted happened before his birth but remain crucial to history.“Do you know what happened in Noakhali? All that is known is ‘a lot of people were killed’—finished. It was the same for the Great Calcutta killings as well. Nobody wants to know how and why it happened, but Vivek Agnihotri is saying, ‘Please know the truth.’ A genocide took place in Noakhali in which around 40,000 Hindus were killed. In the Great Calcutta killings, the same, and people will revolt it. This is the truth, and as soon as someone talks about the truth, it becomes politically motivated. What can we do about it?” the actor said.
Pallavi Joshi alleges blockade by West Bengal governmentEarlier, actress-producer Pallavi Joshi, who has co-produced The Bengal Files and also plays a pivotal role, accused the West Bengal government of blocking the film’s trailer launch and a special screening in Kolkata. She revealed that the makers wanted to unveil the trailer on August 16 to mark the 79th anniversary of Direct Action Day, a dark chapter in Bengal’s history that witnessed widespread communal riots. “Well, it was very clearly done by the ruling party, and we are making no bones about it. We knew that we’d get some kind of resistance. But we didn’t know it would be like this, that we won’t be able to show our trailer at all,” Pallavi told IANS.Directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, The Bengal Files stars Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi. The film is slated for a worldwide theatrical release on September 5.
