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Movie Name: The Bengal Files
Directed by: Vivek Agnihotri
Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Puneet Issar, Govind Namdev, Babbu Maan, Pallavi Joshi, Palomi Ghosh, Mohan Kapur, Namashi Chakraborthy, Anubha Arora, Satwant Kaur, Richard Keep, Shubhankar Das, Divya Palat, Ankit Bisht, Saurav Raj Vermaa, Olga Yumasheva
Genre: Crime, History, Thriller
Release Date: 05 September, 2025
Running Time: 205 Minutes
Language: Hindi
Budget: Rs. 400 crore
Rating:
Production Company: People Media Factory
This film portrays the tragic events surrounding Direct Action Day in August 1946, also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, through a cinematic narrative. The storyline is based on real incidents of communal violence that erupted in Bengal, significantly shaping India’s path to independence and partition.
Movie Overview:
The Bengal Files, formerly known as The Delhi Files: The Bengal Chapter, is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language film directed by Vivek Agnihotri. It is the third and final instalment in Agnihotri’s “Files” trilogy based on modern Indian history, following The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022). The film is based on the 1946 Great Calcutta killings.
The film will be released in two parts, the first film titled The Bengal Files: Right to Life is scheduled to be released on 5 September 2025, which is Teachers Day in India.
The film explores the communal violence in undivided Bengal during the 1940s, including events like Direct Action Day and the Noakhali riots, which Agnihotri characterises as a Hindu genocide. He titled the film The Delhi Files to emphasise his belief that “the destiny of India is written in Delhi and not in Bengal”.
Agnihotri announced the project in April 2022 following the success of The Kashmir Files. Principal photography began in 2023. Agnihotri confirmed the filming of the film wrapped by January 2025. The cinematography of the film is handled by Attar Singh Saini.
The Bengal Files is scheduled for a theatrical release on 5 September 2025.
History Background:
According to director Vivek Agnihotri, the film focuses on the communal violence in Bengal during the 1940s, particularly the Direct Action Day riots and their aftermath. Though the film is set primarily in Bengal, Agnihotri initially chose the title The Delhi Files because, in his words, “the destiny of India is written in Delhi and not Bengal.” He stated that the events in Bengal were shaped by decisions taken in Delhi during the 1940s.
The events portrayed in the film are based on historical incidents such as Direct Action Day, also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, which took place in August 1946. The violence, which originated in Calcutta following the Muslim League’s declaration of Direct Action Day on 16 August, escalated into mass rioting, primarily affecting the Hindu population. Estimates of the death toll ranged from 5,000 to 10,000, with thousands more injured. The violence soon spread to surrounding regions, including Noakhali, Bihar, and Punjab, intensifying communal tensions across India.
Movie Trailer:
#OfficialTrailer
Movie Review:
Story:
A CBI officer probing a journalist’s disappearance uncovers Bengal’s violent past, revisiting Direct Action Day and the Noakhali killings.
Review:
‘The Bengal Files’ is a tough watch, the kind of film that makes you squirm in your seat and sit uneasy through its relentless portrayal of violence. The third in Vivek Agnihotri’s “files” trilogy, the film trains its gaze on the mayhem that followed Direct Action Day—the call given by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1946 demanding a separate state for Muslims. The subject itself is contentious, and Agnihotri refuses to soften it. What emerges is a historical drama that, while heavy-handed, does bring to light a chapter of Indian history rarely touched upon in popular culture. It frames the story through a contemporary plot involving the disappearance of a journalist in Bengal, using that thread to revisit the horrors of the past. Despite its nearly three-and-a-half-hour length, the film compels you to keep watching, unsettled but engrossed.
The narrative begins with CBI officer Shiva Pandit (Darshan Kumaar), who is tasked with investigating the disappearance of journalist Gita Mandal. Suspicions point toward a local MLA, Sardar Hosseini (Saswata Chatterjee), but despite Shiva’s persistence, the evidence remains elusive. As the case stalls, the story takes an unexpected turn with the introduction of Bharati Banerjee (Pallavi Joshi), an elderly woman whose fading memory becomes the bridge to history. Through her recollections, the film plunges into the pre-partition years, reconstructing Direct Action Day and the Noakhali killings in graphic detail. These sequences transport the viewer into the violence that scarred Bengal, tracing the people, politics, and compulsions that shaped a dark chapter in India’s journey to independence.
Agnihotri is unflinching in his approach. The film squarely blames Jinnah’s stubbornness for Partition and portrays Mahatma Gandhi as a frail leader whose ideology of non-violence is depicted as disastrous in the face of brutality. One particularly jarring moment shows Gandhi being asked by a butcher named Patha how women could defend themselves from assaults, and he suggests they resort to fasting and even death rather than resistance. Whether factually accurate or not, the film uses this to highlight what it views as Gandhi’s failings. Subtlety is not Agnihotri’s strength, and ‘The Bengal Files’ revels in shock value. Scenes of grotesque violence come one after another, culminating in a graphic sequence where a Sikh World War II soldier is tied to two motorcycles and pulled apart. While undeniably difficult to sit through, these moments achieve Agnihotri’s intent: to provoke anger, despair, and reflection. The film’s final stretch, where Pallavi Joshi’s character calls for a gun and voices her wish to kill Ghulam, feels overwrought and tests the audience’s patience.
Darshan Kumaar as Shiva Pandit is believable, portraying a man wrestling with moral dilemmas as he finds himself trapped by the country’s political and bureaucratic machinery. Pallavi Joshi, as Bharati Banerjee, carries a fictional role crafted as a narrative device, but her gravitas lends credibility to the film’s flashbacks. Mithun Chakraborty’s presence is more symbolic, while Anupam Kher as Mahatma Gandhi leaves a mark with a sharp, provocative turn. Rajesh Khera brings Jinnah to life with conviction, and Mohan Kapur embodies the fiery Suhrawardy with force. Simratt Kaur, as the young Bharati, makes a fleeting impression, but it is debutant Eklavya Sood who shines brightest. His portrayal of Amar, the Sikh soldier, is delivered with confidence and emotional power.
Partition stories have often centered on the north-western frontier—Punjab, Sindh, and the horrors of displacement there. The east, and particularly Bengal’s trauma, has seldom received equal attention. Agnihotri taps into this untold narrative, making the audience confront those stories, however uncomfortable it makes them. The film has all the ingredients to spark heated debates: its historical perspective, its blame on certain leaders, and its insistence on dwelling on violence. Yet, amid the excesses, it also manages to connect at an emotional level, offering glimpses into suffering that transcend politics.
