The Bengal Files: Vivek Agnihotri’s Film Battles Weekday Dips and Show Cuts

The box office performance of “The Bengal Files” has been a tale of two halves, with strong weekend growth followed by a sharp drop in collections on weekdays. The film, which has now crossed the ₹10 crore mark, is fighting competition and show cuts.

September 11, 2025: The Bengal Files, the last and newest part of Vivek Agnihotri’s “Files” trilogy, had a mediocre box office success in its first week. A report from Sacnilk said that the movie made about ₹88 lakhs on Day 6 (Wednesday), bringing its total net collection in India to ₹9.82 crore.

The movie had a good opening on Friday, making ₹1.75 crore. It went up a little over the weekend, making ₹2.25 crore on Saturday and ₹2.75 crore on Sunday. But the movie’s momentum slowed down a lot during the week. On Monday, it dropped sharply to ₹1.15 crore. On Tuesday, it went up a little bit to ₹1.35 crore, but then it went down again on Wednesday.

Occupancy by City

The movie did well in some Indian cities but not so well in others. Chennai had the highest average occupancy rate at 41%, thanks to a lot of people coming to nighttime shows (54%). Bengaluru came in second with 28% occupancy, while large cities like Mumbai, NCR, and Pune had average turnouts with occupancy rates of 15.67%, 16.33%, and 16.67%, respectively. Cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, and Hyderabad had less people, and there were no night entertainment in these places.

The Movie and Its Issues

“The Bengal Files” is the last movie of Agnihotri’s trilogy, which also includes “The Tashkent Files” and “The Kashmir Files.” The movie says it would shed light on the supposed genocide of Hindus in West Bengal after the Partition, a historical event that the creators say has been mostly ignored. Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, and Pallavi Joshi are some of the well-known actors in the movie.

There has been a lot of controversy over the movie since it came out. For example, in West Bengal, numerous multiplexes reportedly refused to show it because they were worried about security. In response, Pallavi Joshi, who is both a co-producer and a performer, addressed an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu asking her to step in and preserve freedom of speech.

The movie lasts 3 hours and 25 minutes and is rated 18+ because it shows violence. It is said to have cost about ₹50 crore to make.