August 25, Monday: Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty has finally addressed the controversy surrounding his upcoming film The Bengal Files, saying that any honest attempt to portray historical truth is often dismissed as “politically motivated.”
“The minute you show reality; it automatically becomes politically motivated. It's surprising that nobody wants to face reality,” Mithun told IANS.
The Disco Dancer actor touched some of Bengal’s most painful chapters in history, the Noakhali genocide and the Great Calcutta killings that happened even before his birth.
“Do you know what happened in Noakhali? All that is known is ‘a lot of people were killed’—finished. It was the same for the Great Calcutta killings as well. Nobody wants to know how and why it happened, but Vivek Agnihotri is saying, ‘Please know the truth.’ A genocide took place in Noakhali in which around 40,000 Hindus were killed. In the Great Calcutta killings, the same, and people will revolt it. This is the truth, and as soon as someone talks about the truth, it becomes politically motivated. What can we do about it?” he said.
The Bengal Files has been mired in controversy ever since its announcement.
Earlier, actress and producer Pallavi Joshi, who not only co-produced The Bengal Files but also donning role in it, alleged that the West Bengal government deliberately obstructed the film’s promotions. She claimed that both the trailer launch and a special screening in Kolkata were blocked.
“Well, it was very clearly done by the ruling party, and we are making no bones about it. We knew that we'd get some kind of resistance. But we didn't know it would be like this that we won't be able to show our trailer at all,” Pallavi told IANS.
Directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, The Bengal Files onboarded an outstanding cast, including Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi herself. The film will hit the big screen worldwide on 5 September.
