"This is our attempt to bring out the truth": Producer Abhishek Agarwal on 'The Bengal Files'

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 1 : 'The Bengal Files' producer Abhishek Agarwal spoke about the controversy surrounding Vivek Agnihotri's directorial project and said that the makers are trying to "bring out the truth".

'The Bengal Files' features actors Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi. It focuses on the events of "Direct Action Day," aiming to unveil the "most brutal chapter" of Indian history.

Speaking to ANI, Abhishek said, "This is not a controversial film. This is our attempt to bring out the truth. Our director, Mr. Vivek, whether it is 'The Kashmir Files', 'The Tashkent Files 'or 'The Bengal Files', it all involves his 4 years of hard work behind every film. We have 18,000 pages of research on 'The Bengal Files'. And Mr. Vivek, particularly, has put his heart, mind, his time, his 4 years of research, into it..And this is history. We are not telling anything new. We cannot write history..We are telling the history. We are not writing a new history. The history that has been passed, we have its research, its documentation."

He added, "I had said this during 'The Kashmir Files', that we can give proof of everything. I will say the same thing in 'The Bengal Files', that we can give justification of each frame."

On facing the backlash over the subject, Abhishek Agarwal shared, "Has anyone ever asked us how much loss or benefit we have?.. No one wants to see the truth. Those who want to see, they support our film so much..."

He also opened up on working on the official biopic about Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, "There is a lot of research going on. Om Raut is directing it..Dhanush is playing the lead role.."

Earlier, in an interview, director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri claimed that he had received 'threats' over the 'The Bengal Files' release.

Speaking to ANI, Agnihotri revealed that he, along with his family, has become a target of the threats."My daughter and my son are being targeted. They have dragged my family. After the release of 'The Kashmir Files,' three fatwas were issued in my name. Since then, I haven't sat in the car with my children. Not even once. We haven't done anything together. I didn't have as much trouble making 'The Kashmir Files' as I am having with this film," he said."I am being attacked and subjected to a sort of social media lynching," the filmmaker added.

Noting that his film sheds light on Bengal culture, music, and food, Agnihotri condemned the threats against his family, including those directed at his daughter and wife.

The filmmaker also opened up about changing the film's title from 'The Delhi Files: Bengal Chapter' to 'The Bengal Files.'Noting that the original name was used in the posters initially, he explained that the changes were made to avoid miscommunication."When I went to America in March-April, for the first time, I started the film's networking and marketing because I wanted to do shows there. As soon as I delivered my first speech in New Jersey, there were a lot of people. I announced that my film is coming, 'The Delhi Files: Bengal Chapter.' Many of them came to me and asked if the film was based on the Sikh riots or the Delhi riots. I realised that there was a massive communication problem," he said.

It was then that the filmmaker reached out to the audience and took suggestions for the film's title, before finalising 'The Bengal Files.'

Directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, 'The Bengal Files' explores the communal violence that took place in undivided Bengal during the 1940s, including the events of the Direct Action Day and the Noakhali riots of 1946.

The film will hit theatres on September 5.

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