High Court Dismisses Plea Demanding Censorship Of ‘The Bengal Files’

Granting relief to the makers of the Bollywood film ‘The Bengal Files’, the Calcutta High Court on Monday rejected a petition to censor Vivek Agnihotri’s film based on the direct action day.

Santanu Mukherjee, grandson of Gopal Chandra Mukerjee, claimed his grandfather was depicted in the movie in a defamatory manner, and requested a probe into the censor certification.

He demanded an investigation into the parameters taken by the censor board in the certification process of the movie.

The film depicting the August 1946 Kolkata communal riots, known as the ‘Great Calcutta Killings’, released last Friday.

The petition objected to the term ‘Patha’ in the movie, a term used for Mukherjee’s character, as in Bengali it implies a goat.

He further asserted that his eminent freedom fighter father inspired the film.

“The Petitioner was not able to back the claims behind his petition with supporting information and appropriate documents”, Justice Amrita Sinha said while dismissing the plea.

Unofficial Ban on The Bengal Files in Bengal

The film faced an ‘unofficial ban’ in West Bengal, as theatres across the state refused to screen Agnihotri’s directorial citing political pressure and intimidation from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.

Earlier, TMC supporters stormed the trailer launch event in West Bengal and forced the makers to cancel it.

The movie features Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Saswata Chatterjee, Darshan Kumarr and Sourav Das in leading roles.

Also Read: Mumbai Police Issues Lookout Circular Against Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra In ₹60 Crore Fraud