''The Bengal Files'', formerly known as ''The Delhi Files:'' ''The Bengal Chapter'', is an upcoming Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language film directed by Vivek Agnihotri. It is the third and final instalment in Agnihotri's "Files" trilogy based on modern Indian history, following '' The Tashkent Files'' (2019) and '' The Kashmir Files'' (2022). The film is based on the 1946 Great Calcutta killings. The film will be released in two parts, the first film titled ''The Bengal Files: Right to Life'' is scheduled to be released on 5 September 2025, which is Teachers' Day in India. The film explores the communal violence in undivided

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

during the 1940s, including events like Direct Action Day and the Noakhali riots, which Agnihotri characterises as a Hindu genocide. He titled the film ''The Delhi Files'' to emphasise his belief that "the destiny of India is written in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and not in

Plot

This film portrays the tragic events surrounding Direct Action Day in August 1946, also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, through a cinematic narrative. The storyline is based on real incidents of communal violence that erupted in Bengal, significantly shaping India's path to independence and partition.

Cast

Mithun Chakraborty Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, film producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and politician who predominantly works in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. In a career spa ...

as Madman Chatur * Darshan Kumar as Shiva Pandit * Sourav Das as Gopal Patha (Gopal Chandra Mukhopadhyay/Mukherjee), a Butcher from Calcutta * Eklavya Sood as Amar * Anupam Kher as

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

* Puneet Issar as Rajnath * Saswata Chatterjee as Sardar * Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Zamindar Rajendra Lal Roy Choudhury * Govind Namdev * Babbu Maan * Pallavi Joshi as Maa Bharati * Palomi Ghosh * Priyanshu Chatterjee as Banerjee, a judge at Dharamtalla Magistrate Court * Mohan Kapur as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy * Vatsal Seth as Muhammad Ali Jinnah * Gopal Datt as Ghulam * Namashi Chakraborty * Anubha Arora * Satwant Kaur * Richard Keep * Shubhankar Das * Divya Palat * Ankit Bisht * Saurav Raj Vermaa * Olga Yumasheva

Production

Agnihotri announced the project in April 2022 following the success of '' The Kashmir Files''. Principal photography began in 2023. Agnihotri confirmed the filming of the film wrapped by January 2025.The cinematography of the film is handled by Attar Singh Saini.

Release

''The Bengal Files'' is scheduled for a theatrical release on 5 September 2025.

Historical background

According to director Vivek Agnihotri, the film focuses on the communal violence in

during the 1940s, particularly the Direct Action Day riots and their aftermath. Though the film is set primarily in Bengal, Agnihotri initially chose the title ''The Delhi Files'' because, in his words, "the destiny of India is written in Delhi and not Bengal." He stated that the events in Bengal were shaped by decisions taken in Delhi during the 1940s. The events portrayed in the film are based on historical incidents such as Direct Action Day, also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, which took place in August 1946. The violence, which originated in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

following the Muslim League's declaration of Direct Action Day on 16 August, escalated into mass rioting, primarily affecting the Hindu population. Estimates of the death toll ranged from 5,000 to 10,000, with thousands more injured. The violence soon spread to surrounding regions, including

Noakhali Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, and Punjab, intensifying communal tensions across India.

Controversies

In April 2022, the Maharashtra Sikh Association issued objections, claiming the film would commercialise the 1984 Sikh massacres but the director on that time has not confirmed the plot details. Although some speculated that the film is based on 1984 Sikh massacres, later it was found to be based on Direct Action Day also known as Great Calcutta Killings

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bengal Files, The Indian thriller films 2020s Hindi-language films 2025 thriller films 2025 films Cultural depictions of prime ministers of India Cultural depictions of Lal Bahadur Shastri Cultural depictions of Indian people Films directed by Vivek Agnihotri Hindi-language thriller films Films about conspiracy theories Conspiracy theories in India Films adapted for other media Indian film series