REVIEW OF THE BANGAL FILES – 

STARK AND HARD ON THE FACE STUFF

After facing lot of uncertainty and hostility and pre-release criticism and allegations of being propaganda film and allegations of an attempt to divide the country on communal lines, Bengal files has ultimately released in theatres and I rushed to watch it before it is being banned and pulled out of theatres by coercive measures

Whether it is Tashkent Files, Kashmir Files, Kerala Files or Bengal Files in India or many Hollywood movies made from 60s to 90s on the barbaric acts and genocide by Hitler, Idi Aman and many more dictators, there should be freedom to show the truth.   Covering them up, for whatever reasons, for so many years, and being in self denial mode did not serve any purpose and the gen-next youth have a right to know the historical facts how so ever gory they may be.   Burying them deep and letting the next generations not know it, in itself is a great disservice which has been done for decades.

Coming to elite media, socialites, film personalities like half expression John Abraham that such movies are dangerous and whip up passions and will divide the country on communal lines, I feel that they have their own reasons and compulsions to say so due to their political leanings, but average movie goer like me doesn’t have any.

One may disagree with the sources of research done by writer director Vivek Agnihotri, some cinematic liberties that he might have taken, have serious reservation on the most graphic and gory manner of depicting bloodshed and extreme violence unleashed on the innocent who were hacked to death, beheaded, women were raped and hung with hooks by their breasts, people were burnt live, one sardar hands tied from both side by ropes and pulled by motor cycles on either side to tear him into two parts and dragged on the roads in the market etc., but no one can deny the carnage that took place in Bengal at that time on the Direct Action Day on 16^th August, 1946 and the Noakhali riots.   

When I saw Kashmir Files, I thought Agnihotri has just touched the subject and did not go in to depth of the incidents or issues, but in Bengal Files its `no holds barred’.   He deals with the subject in great details and allowed the subject to sink and shake the audience.   Audience can feel the pain and anguish for what the victims had gone through and cannot help the feeling of stomach churning, reeling and vomiting sensation.    I experienced this earlier while watching Schindler's List.

Coming to the movie, I always feel that for a movie to be complete and successful, apart the story, screenplay, direction casting is very important.     As far as casting of Bengal Files is concerned Agnihotri was bang on.    Kudos to him and his casting director for picking up best actor for each of the over dozen important characters of the movie.   In the recent past I haven’t seen such a perfect casting where over 12 actors gave excellent to brilliant performances.  

 

 

The actors who put up brilliant performance in the same order are

 

• Saswata Chatterjee as Sardar Husseini, MLA.    – a highly talented Bengali actor who showed glimpses of his brilliance in Hindi movie Kahani as menacing contractor killer.   In this movie also he had a small 4-5 scenes role but two scenes where he encounters the special CBI officer, he was so cool, composed, polished but menacing.   I wonder why it took so much time after Kahani where too he was very impressive, to get another look at by Bollywood.   He deserves more and meaty roles in Hindi and other language movies.
• Darshan Kumar as Shiva Aloke Pandit, the special CBI Officer – Handled the pivotal central character very well showing his anguish and helplessness, especially when he goes to arrest the MLA and gets slapped and forced to apologise before MLA son and wife.
• Pallavi Joshi as Maa Bharati / aged Bharti Banerjee – extremely complex role of a dementia patient and the only surviving member of the dreadful incident.    This is a role of lifetime for any one and she gave performance of her life time.  
• Namashi Chakraborthy as Gulam Hussaini – this character does most of the killings by hacking, he was menacing and villainy oozing out his face, eyes and body language.   He exhibited not only ruthlessness but projected each killing as a souvenir
• Simrat Kaur as young Bharati Banerjee – she is beautiful, expressive and gone though all shades of happiness, sad, anguish and helplessness in equal measure.   Though a Kaur, she looked like a Bengali girl.
• Eklavya Sood as Amarjeet Arora – He looked like real Sardar and brilliant in his body language and rebellion expressions.  He is comfortable in soft romantic expressions and fiery aggression.
• Sourav Das as Gopal Patha – though had a lesser screen time, his acting was explosive and impactful
• Dibyendu Bhattacharya as  Roy Chowdhary – matured and dignified role
• Mithun Chakraborty as Madman Chatur – a 3-time national award winner, after working in over 50 good for nothing movies, he picks up one good role and exhibits the better actor in him.   This movie is one of such movies with an unrecognisable make up and body language.
• Anupam Kher as Mahatma Gandhi – hardly had few scenes and expressed the self-imposed helplessness of Gandhi very well and got hooting in the theatre – a clear disapproval of Gandhi’s inapt handling of such a serious situation when thousands of Hindus were killed. 
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• At 3 hours and 20 minutes the movie is very lengthy if it is trimmed by atleast 30 minutes it would have become crisp and racier.    Both current day situations and flash back to 1946 are dragged a bit.    May be writer director Agnihotri might have been tempted too much by his research that he over filmed and stretched the movie .  

Overall it is most hard-hitting movie by Agnihotri, despite whatever the criticism and accusations, he did a very good job and we should appreciate him for bringing to the light the unfortunate carnage of the Noakhali riots which were kept under wraps by the Government, media and movie makers.  We need more such brave Director and more such movies.

If you are not pseudo secular, elite socialite or partisan, and have the stomach to withstand stomach churning and extremely violent scenes even on women and children, then you must catch up the movie.

I give 4 out of 5 for brilliant acting by so many actors and excellent direction and the guts of Vivek Agnihotri

 

S. Prabhakar

8.9.2025