Kolkata Police sources have said filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri did not obtain administrative permission to publicly screen the trailer of his upcoming film The Bengal Files in the city. Officials told NDTV that the attempt to screen the trailer without clearance violated Section 3 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954, which governs cinema exhibitions in the state.
A senior officer said, “If he has taken required permission, he should at least show the media the documents.”
The statement came after Mr. Agnihotri alleged that police stopped his trailer launch at a five-star hotel in Kolkata on Saturday. Visuals of officers entering the venue went viral online.
Agnihotri, who had visited Kalighat Temple on Friday, claimed, “The trailer launch of a CBFC-approved movie was stopped. This is dictatorship. Police are being misused in Bengal because of political ambitions.”
Countering the charge, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and accused the filmmaker of pursuing a political agenda.
Hotel authorities confirmed they extended full cooperation to officials and shared all relevant information for the inquiry.
The Bengal Files, starring Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Mithun Chakraborty, and Saswata Chatterjee, explores the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings (Direct Action Day) and its impact on Partition and Independence. The film, part of Agnihotri’s Files trilogy, is slated for release on September 5.