The Bengal Files: Protest Erupt in West Bengal as Moviegoers Demand Film Screening, Vivek Agnihotri Shares Viral Clip

Moviegoers are protesting in West Bengal, demanding a theatrical release for Vivek Agnihotri’s latest film, The Bengal Files. The director shared a viral video of the protest, accusing cinema owners of an “unofficial ban” on the film.

September 6, 2025: After his movie The Bengal Files was out, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri went on social media to say that the movie is facing a “unofficial ban” in West Bengal.

Agnihotri tweeted on Saturday that demonstrators in the state were calling for the film to be shown. He also said that the protests happened outside Rupkotha Cinema.

A few days after the film’s producer, Pallavi Joshi, wrote an open letter to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, about the situation, this post appeared on social media. Joshi said in her letter that workers for the ruling party were “intimidating” and “threatening” theater owners, which is why they wouldn’t show the movie even though there was no formal prohibition.

Joshi’s letter says that the film has received opposition since it was first announced, and that the Chief Minister of West Bengal made fun of it. She also said that the team has had to deal with false FIRs, a trailer that the police banned, and threats to her family.

The West Bengal administration and its Chief Minister have not yet made an official remark about the claims of an unofficial ban. In the same way, big cinema chains haven’t answered the protests and calls for the movie to be released in the state yet. Agnihotri has asked followers to keep protesting by naming multiplex chains on social media. Critics have mainly liked the movie, although it had a poor start at the box office, which may have been affected by this debate.