The Bengal Files, a film that stirred a lot of controversy.. but was there any real occurence? Lets find out. In the film, the story follows a fictional missing-person case: a Dalit girl Gita Mandal disappears in Murshidabad district. A returning investigator from the central agency begins probing her disappearance, which becomes a gateway to much larger. historical/political themes.
Is it based on True events?
Although there are no authentic reports supporting the missing of girl named Gita but The Bengal Files seems to be an inspiration from a real-life incident that took place during the partition between Indian and Pakistan. One of the major events was the Direct Action, where thousands were killed in a riot between Hindu-Muslim. As per Daily Jagran, on July 29, 1946, Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared August 16 as the Direct Action Day. On this day, the All-India Muslim League made a direct demand for the creation of Pakistan and protested against the British government.
Before the direct action day, Jinnah already put everyone on notice by asserting that they were ready to use any means to get their demands fulfilled. One of the dialogues from his presential speech is “I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it”. Even after the ‘Direct Action’ resolution was passed, Jinnah marked it as the most historic act in history.
Following this massacre, riots erupted in Kolkata, and around six thousand people were killed, and twenty thousand were raped and injured. This continues from August 15 to August 19. The riots did not stop here and soon expanded to Noakhali, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and other parts of the country. The Noakhali riots in October 1946 also witnessed an attack on Hindu communities by Muslim mobs. Even rapes, abductions, looting, and arson of Hindu properties also took place.
The Bengal Files primarily focused on portraying the story at its best and doesn’t have much star power as part of the cast. Still, the cast of Bengal Files features Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Pallavi Joshi, and others.
Before this, Anupam Kher and Mithun already worked with Vivek Agnihotri on The Kashmir Files, which was a major success at the box office and the talk of the town for many months.