Vivek Agnihotri & his penchant for opening old files

Rewind & ramble

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. But when it comes to Vivek Agnihotri’s cinema, the appetizer is enough for his detractors to pass judgment. Since he released the trailer of The Bengal Files, he has been in the eye of a storm, much of his making too.

After the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, stalled the trailer release event in Kolkata, he has been talking about how the powers that be are strangulating the freedom of expression.

Does he endorse what he preaches? Well, to a large degree, yes. Unlike many directors whose PR professionals would hand you a list of questions not to be broached during an interview, Agnihotri issues so such instructions.

Like his cinema or not, believe in his politics or not, he is a man of conviction; convoluted, critics would say. Yet, he takes on the googlies thrown his way. The query, ‘why don’t you make a film on Gujarat riots’ is met with a stoic response, “It’s my choice to make the kind of films I want.”

The liberals never tire of repeatedly asking him more of the same. Recently he has found a new bête noire — John Abraham. Abraham has thrown in a poser — what about a film on Manipur Files? Agnihotri may not have responded to Abraham’s dig, but as the National Award winning director said in an interview, he sees himself as a representative, if not a messiah, of the ‘persecuted’ Hindu community.

The Bengal Files connects pre-Partition Bengal with the current state of affairs in West Bengal and the 1946 Noakhali massacre of Hindus. Perhaps, there is a kernel of truth in his assertion that in this Hindu majority nation, sufferings of Hindus are rarely put on record.

Leave aside his politics, what cine-lovers find difficult to digest is his craft; too in your face to be called artistic. Yet, the gut wrenching visceral quality of his movies demands attention. After giving a not-so-flattering review for The Tashkent Files, I met many educated movie buffs who believed in his cinematic truth. The Bengal Files is likely to find admirers.

However, the cast is on divergent paths. Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee has distanced himself and Mithun Chakraborty rises to defend the film. No doubt, baiters will find his film inflammatory. Those who are not so clued in history will be shocked, even mesmerised by Agnihotri’s cinematic turn of events. The provocative trailer promises; it is a true story. But hyperboles abound. The very first scene throws the possibility of a Taimur becoming the Prime Minister of India thus fueling the fears of polarised Hindus who fear being dominated by the minority community. The teaser also tells us how there are two constitutions in West Bengal, separate for Hindus and Muslims. The hyperactive social media India will get more reasons to hyperventilate and add to the online divisions.

Should cinema feed into fear mongering or counter it… a question Agnihotri and those who endorse his brand of ‘brutally honest’ cinema need to ask. For now, he weaponises what he calls is truth. Cinema is powerful enough to make deep impressions. Rather than raking up old wounds and adding a few fresh ones, cinema must provide the healing touch. He insists The Kashmir Files provided closure to thousands of Kashmiri pandits…The Bengal Files comes with a warning — if we don’t pay heed to the problem of illegal migrants in the state bordering radicalised Bangladesh, it too would become Kashmir.

From Kashmir to Bengal, his ruse is the same. And those, opposing him or supporting him, are unlikely to change too. Take your positions as the film releases today.