29 minutes agoAuthor: Varsha Rai
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There is a lot of opposition in West Bengal over ‘The Bengal files’. The film’s actress and producer Pallavi Joshi told during a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar that she already knew that problems would come. For this reason, legal action is also being taken on their behalf. The actress also told that preparations for ‘The Bengal files’ had already started before The Kashmir Files’. Here is some special part of the conversation with Pallavi Joshi ..
Did you get the idea of making ‘The Bengal Files’ only after the success of ‘The Kashmir Files’. Is this film likely to get another National Award?
The National Award is not known, but the preparations for ‘The Bengal Files’ had already started before our ‘The Kashmir Files’. When we made ‘The Tashkent Files’, a triaology idea came to our mind. Our thinking was that the three lions in the national symbol of India are the symbols of three fundamental rights Right to Truth, Right to Justice and Right to Life.
On this basis, we questioned the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri in ‘The Tashkent Files’. In ‘The Kashmir Files’, the question of justice kept and now the story on the right to life in ‘The Bengal Files’.
This triaology film is less and adding the word files makes the documentary more, what would you like to say?
These are fully research-based films. The facts that we have shown so far have come into reality. We have just given them the form of a feature film. Hundreds of characters cannot be brought on screen, so we tell the story about 4–5 main characters and events. This is our cinematic liberty.
As soon as the trailer was launched, Vivek Agnihotri got an FIR and Gopal Mukherjee’s grandson alleged that the film tried to tarnish the image of Gopal ji and Bengal, what would she say?
Political allegations are made in political films. We knew that problems would come. For this we are taking legal action.
Did political obstacles come during the shooting of the film too?
Not political, but the biggest problem was that we were making films on Bengal but could not shoot there. We had an idea that we would not get permission to shoot. That is why the sets of Kolkata and Murshidabad had to be built in Mumbai, which also cost more.
What is the problem with TMC and Mamta Banerjee with Vivek Agnihotri?
Don’t know, but yes, these things will not be solved. I don’t think anyone is ready to sit and discuss it. If people are taking legal way, then we will also answer the same.
In an interview, Shashwat Chatterjee said that he did not know the story, is it right?
No actor does yes to the film without knowing the script. It is not known under which pressure he has given this statement, I will just say that they should take some responsibility and do not give such wrong statement.
How relevant is the film given the current political and social environment?
It is very relevant. Otherwise we would neither stop nor have such a big controversy.
Critics say that you have earned profit from Kashmir files, but what did you do for Kashmiri Pandits?
Nobody had talked to Kashmiri Pandits till now. He needed to recognize the massacre of him, not money. His film got recognition for the first time.
The film has a scene in which a woman named Girija is strangled with saws. His brother wrote a letter to us that after watching the film, his family was able to cry openly about it for the first time. Messages of many such people came. I will listen to only those for whom we have made a film. What the rest of the people say do not matter to me.