The Bengal Files is a raw, thought-provoking film that brings alive a forgotten chapter of history with such depth and honesty that it leaves you shaken. Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s trilogy which began with ‘The Tashkent Files’, followed by ‘The Kashmir Files’ and now the third film that was initially titled ‘The Delhi Files: The Bengal Chapter’ which was subsequently changed to ‘The Bengal Files’.
The film is based around the events of ‘Direct Action Day’, which was also known as Great Calcutta Killings centering on the communal violence in Bengal during the 1940s, which culminated in this gruesome killings during August 1946. Though I am unaware of the recent changes in our school curriculum, at least this chapter was missing from the history text books throughout my school career. It is said that these incidents have actually occurred during our freedom struggle as reported in various local and international publications of those times.
The director and his team claim to have studied and researched through historical documents and news sources, such as the New York Times, Time magazine, Life magazine, British Publications, Bande Mataram by Sri Aurobindo, Amrit Bazar Patrika and local Bengali newspapers from Noakhali, to inform the portrayal of events.
The Bengal Files claims to be ‘based on true events’, with the filmmakers creating history according to their perspectives and capabilities around the recorded events.
During that period the only medium to report or record the news and happenings was only the local newspapers. There was no radio, television, news channels, smart phones and even the simple telephone landline withing the reach of the masses. Officially the figure of 4,000 Hindus being treated with genocide, but the figure of 10 to 20 times multiples are being spoken around. One thing is certain that it was only the Hindu community that faced such gory mass massacre, mass rapes of women, chopping off the heads and brutal treatment forced upon them in Noakhali in West Bengal that was propagated by Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (played by Mohan Kapur) who served as Bengal’s last premier until the Partition of India.
It was a heart-wrenching experience for me watching perhaps the most disrespectful portrayal of the Mahatma Gandhi (Father of the nation) on screen. He had given his life for the fight for independence of our nation. Anupam Kher artfully turns Gandhi into a helpless caricature. After all he wasn’t God. He was a human being like us and could have made some misjudgments in his life.
It can be easily said that at several moments, the film veers towards dramatization, though there would be no evidence to challenge the authentic validity of the happenings depicted in the film. It merely underscores its deeper purpose to reckon with truths we have, for too long, preferred to ignore.
Each of the dialogues are metaphorical having its own deep silent meaning. Brilliant screenplay, dialogs and acting. The only drawback is that the narrative takes over 3 hours having a run time of 204 minutes. It could have been better with at least half an hour short.
Watching this film is an unforgettable experience that touches your soul with it’s raw storytelling that brings to life a hidden chapter of history with depth, that was long buried in silence. Every scene leaves you with goosebumps, every emotion lingers in your heart, and by the end, you are left speechless, with tears in your eyes and questions in your mind.
– Review by P C Kapadia
Cast of The Bengal Files –
Darshan Kumar as Shiva Pandit
Simrat Kaur as Bharati
Anupam Kher as MK Gandhi
Mithun Chakraborty as Madman Chatur
Pallavi Joshi as Maa Bharati
Saswata Chatterjee as Sardar Husseini, MLA
Namashi Chakraborty as Gholam Sarwar Husseini
Rajesh Khera as Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Priyanshu Chatterjee as Justice Banerjee
Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Rajendra Lal Roychowdhary
Sourav Das as Gopal Patha
Mohan Kapur as Suhrawardy
Credits of The Bengal Files –
Production companies – Abhishek Agarwal Arts, I Am Buddha Productions
Written & Directed by Vivek Agnihotri
Produced by Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi, Vivek Agnihotri
Cinematography – Attar Singh Saini
Edited by Shankh Rajadhyaksha
Music by Rohit Sharma
