After the trailer launch of his upcoming film The Bengal Files was interrupted and eventually stopped in Kolkata on Saturday, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri came down heavily on Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal government. “This is anarchy…dictatorship,” Agnihotri told the press shortly after his trailer launch at the ITC Royal Bengal was stopped.
The event, held at the ITC Royal Bengal hotel, descended into chaos after the screening was halted twice. According to a report by ET, electrical wires inside the venue were deliberately cut to prevent the launch.
Confusion intensified when police personnel entered the ballroom to stop the event for a second time, leading to heated arguments. “This was a private screening and we had all the permissions. Yet the police were deployed to ensure we could not show the trailer. The police in Bengal are being used because of some people’s political ambitions,” he alleged.
The filmmaker further claimed that the state was trying to silence him because the film addresses issues of demographic change. “They don’t want it to be shown because the state itself empowers demographic change…I cannot be silenced,” he told the press.
VIDEO | As trailer launch of 'The Bengal Files' was stopped in Kolkata, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) says, "It has happened in front of you, camera captured, the trailer launch of CBFC approved movie was stopped, this is an anarchy, dictatorship… Police had come… pic.twitter.com/bALRD8ihIA
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 16, 2025
Agnihotri says ‘political pressure’ on multiplexes
The controversy came a day after Agnihotri had accused West Bengal authorities of pressuring a leading movie theatre chain to cancel his trailer launch at the last minute. Sharing a video on X, the filmmaker said that despite having all written permissions, the cinema hall pulled out citing “political pressure” and to avoid “turmoil”.
“This is a very sad commentary on our democracy. Are there two constitutions in India – one for the rest of the country and another for West Bengal?” Agnihotri said in the video.
Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘Files’ trilogy
The Bengal Files is Agnihotri’s next project after The Kashmir Files and its subject matter has already sparked political sensitivities in the state. This is not his first brush with controversies ahead of his film release and otherwise.
The filmmaker has a history of making controversial public statements during several of his interviews.