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The trailer launch of filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's upcoming movie The Bengal Files, which explores the 1946 Calcutta Riots, has sparked a major controversy after being abruptly halted by police in Kolkata. The event, scheduled to take place at a five-star hotel in the city, was meant to showcase the film’s trailer to the media and select invitees. However, things took an unexpected turn when the screening was stopped midway by hotel authorities and later, by police officials. According to Agnihotri, the situation began when a hotel representative informed the team that permission had only been granted for a press conference and not for a trailer screening. Agnihotri expressed his confusion, stating, "How can a press meet be held without showing the trailer?" The situation escalated further when five to six Kolkata Police officers entered the venue, stopping the trailer midway. This led to heated exchanges between Agnihotri, police officials, and hotel staff, with the filmmaker questioning the motives behind the interruption.“If the hotel authorities wanted to stop the screening, why had they given permission to hold the press meet in the first place?” Agnihotri added in his statement, visibly frustrated with the situation.In response to the incident, a spokesperson from ITC Royal Bengal, the hotel hosting the event, said: “We have extended full cooperation, and all relevant information has been shared with the authorities who are investigating the matter.” The hotel emphasized that the issue was being investigated by the concerned authorities.On the other hand, Kolkata Police clarified that a team had been dispatched to the hotel to verify if the "necessary permissions" were in place for a public film screening. The police have not yet provided any further details about the nature of the permissions involved.Actor Pallavi Joshi, who stars in The Bengal Files, also expressed her discontent over the incident. She remarked, "I absolutely did not like the way my film was stopped. Is there freedom of expression in this state?" Joshi’s comments added fuel to the ongoing controversy, raising concerns over the freedom of expression for filmmakers in the state.The incident quickly turned political, with Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh criticising Agnihotri and his film. Ghosh claimed that The Bengal Files was not a legitimate film but a “political video made as part of a pre-election political assignment.” He also accused Agnihotri of aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and questioned why the filmmaker had not tackled other communal issues, such as the 2002 Godhra riots, the Bilkis Bano case, or the ongoing unrest in Manipur. "It is perplexing to see Vivek Agnihotri speak on cinema, morality, and ethics. He has come here to defame Bengal," Ghosh added. He further claimed that Bengal is outperforming BJP-governed states in several indices, citing data from the central government, and suggested that Agnihotri’s film was an attempt to "stoke communal flames." The Bengal Files’ delves into the communal violence in undivided Bengal during the 1940s. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on September 5. The producer of the film Abhisshek Agarwal later told PTI that "no force can stop us to release the film on September 5.". "We are taking advice from legal experts. The trailer launch programme had no legal hurdles. We will move the court soon after today's development," he said.

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