Vivek Agnihotri’s The Bengal Files has found itself in hot water after Mamata Banerjee expressed disappointment towards the content and banned the release in the state. Now, actress-producer Pallavi Joshi has penned an open letter to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, pleading to protect her constitutional right and let film be shown in West Bengal peacefully.
Pallavi Joshi’s appeal to Droupadi Murmu
Pallavi took to Instagram, where she shared the note with the headline: “AN OPEN LETTER TO HER EXCELLENCY, SMT. DROUPADI MURMU JI (sic). She wrote: “Respected Madam President, With a heavy heart, I reach out to you, not for favours, but for protection.” She shared that the film, which releases on September 5, is the final chapter of the “Files Trilogy”. She went on to mention that the film portrays the “long-suppressed truth” of the Hindu genocide during Direct Action Day, the horrors of Noakhali, and the Partition trauma.
Pallavi further added, “But in West Bengal, truth is under siege. Years before completion, the Chief Minister mocked the film. Since then, baseless FIRs have been filed, our trailer was blocked by police, and even newspapers avoid carrying ads. My family is threatened every day by political party workers.” In her letter, Joshi claimed that despite no official ban, The Bengal Files is facing an unofficial ban in West Bengal as “theatre owners have told us they are being intimidated, threatened and are refusing to screen it, fearing violence by ruling party workers.”
“There is no official ban, yet an unofficial ban silences the film before people can see it. Legendary actor, Padma Bhushan Victor Banerjee, along with many Bengali organisations in India and abroad, have already petitioned you. Their support proves that truth still has allies,” she wrote. Calling the film the cry of Maa Bharati, she added: “The Bengal Files is the cry of Maa Bharati, scarred yet unbroken, a story of survival and hope. As a woman who rose from the margins to the highest constitutional office, only you can truly understand what it means to endure such pain and turn it into purpose. This is cinema of truth. But truth also needs protection.”
Pallavi concluded the post by saying: “Madam President, I seek not a favour for a film but space for art, for truth, for Maa Bharati`s soul to speak without fear. You are my final hope. Please protect our constitutional right and let The Bengal Files be shown in West Bengal peacefully. With respect and gratitude, Pallavi Joshi Producer, The Bengal Files.”
About The Bengal Files
Set to release in theatres on September 5, 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 stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Namashi Chakraborty and Simrat Kaur in lead roles.