Trailer of The Bengal Files hits online after Kolkata chaos

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has finally released the trailer of his upcoming film The Bengal Files on social media, a day after chaos disrupted its official launch in Kolkata.

The film revisits the turbulent years of the 1940s in undivided Bengal, focusing on communal violence during events such as the Direct Action Day of 1946 and the Noakhali riots. Agnihotri, known for The Kashmir Files, once again teams up with Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi and Darshan Kumaar for the project.

The trailer opens with a monologue describing Bengal’s situation before Partition and moves into stark depictions of riots in Kolkata. One scene portrays Bengal as the “lighthouse” of India, resisting the idea of Partition. Graphic visuals of killings and street violence dominate the preview, underlining the film’s grim subject matter.

Agnihotri, while sharing the trailer online, said it was released in memory of the victims of Direct Action Day on August 16, 1946. He described the film as “the boldest ever on the untold story of the Hindu genocide.”

The Kolkata launch, a day earlier, had run into trouble after organisers at ITC Royal Bengal allegedly prevented the event from going ahead despite prior permissions. Agnihotri accused local authorities of trying to block the screening, claiming wires were cut and equipment sabotaged. “If this is not dictatorship, then what is? Law and order has failed,” he told the audience.

The Bengal Files is scheduled to hit theatres on September 5, 2025.