If we speak truth, it's called propaganda: Mithun Chakraborty on ‘The Bengal Files’

Mumbai: The Bengal Files is a film that speaks about what happened in Bengal in 1946, says veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, upset that the "truth" depicted by filmmakers is dismissed as "propaganda".

Third in Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's Files trilogy, the movie revolves around the Calcutta riots of August 16, 1946, which were triggered after the All-India Muslim League called for ‘Direct Action Day’ to demand a separate homeland.

Chakraborty, who has been a regular in most of Agnihotri's films including The Tashkent Files, The Kashmir Files and the new one, said there is a segment that's always trying to target such movies.

"If we speak the truth, it is called propaganda. Shouldn't our generation know what happened to Noakhali, and what was the Calcutta killing? They should not know about it? It's very surprising. It's a film about the truth, the history, what happened to Bengal and Noakhali, and the Calcutta killing. We made The Kashmir Files as well, we have shown the truth in it,” he told PTI in an interview.

“These people are always there to target things, no matter what you do. With The Tashkent Files do you not want to know what happened to our great Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, or what happened to the Kashmiri Pandits? You had only heard that they had been thrown out but how did this happen? Now, you know it.” The former Rajya Sabha MP and the BJP politician said he plays the role of a madman, who is a riot victim, in the movie who acts as the conscience of the story.

Chakraborty, 75, criticised people for targeting the movie without even seeing the trailer of the film. Agnihotri has alleged the trailer launch event of The Bengal Files in Kolkata faced sabotage and they had to change the venue at the last moment.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has described the film as politically motivated, leading to calls for a boycott and ban.

"People had not seen the trailer and said, ‘It should be banned’. What is it there in the trailer to be banned? Like, nudity is passed in the name of cinematic liberty, but in this film, there’s no such thing. Violence is part of life and if you’ve done it you must accept it,” the actor said.

Chakraborty praised Agnihotri, saying the director somehow always creates a character for him in his films.

"He puts a lot of work into it. He fanatically looks for the actual story, and that is something amazing. He goes in depth into the story so much that his documentation is always correct." Asked about the controversy surrounding the National Award win for The Kerala Story, Chakraborty called those criticising the movie's win as "pseudo intellectuals".

“People on the jury were not from Kerala, they were from all over the country. They thought this film should get a national award, but then there was so much fuss about it. So, whenever you speak the truth, there will be people (who will oppose it)." Chakraborty, who won the National Film Award for his debut role in Mrinal Sen's 1976 film Mrigayaa before finding commercial success in Bollywood with movies such as Disco Dancer, Commando, Pyaar Jhukta Nahi said at this point in his career, he is receptive to any role that piques his interest.

“I want to do films that give me gudgudee (tickles), be it Bengali or in Hindi. I’m doing a film with Prabhas called Fauji, and with Rajinikanth, which is Jailer 2. These are all commercial films. Though, Fauji has a patriotic feel to it. I do all kinds of films,” he said.

“I’m a senior star, a big star. I’ve got a great fan following, I do challenging roles, I don’t run away from it. It’s not that I want to do only Disco Dancer kind of roles only. I’ve changed myself with time. I’m moving with the times,” he said.

The Bengal Files also stars Saswata Chatterjee, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Darshan Kumar, and is scheduled for a theatrical release on September 5.