The Bengal Files Movie Teaser Review: Reflects India’s Dark Past While Reigniting The Debate Around Political Cinema

The teaser of The Bengal Files has been released and Whenever Vivek Agnihotri brings a film, it shakes the entire Bollywood system. He even shook South Indian cinema when his film outperformed Prabhas’s Radhe Shyam during a clash. With a budget of only ₹15 crores, The Kashmir Files earned ₹350 crores. Still, Bollywood doesn’t acknowledge the film in its records. Maybe that’s the cost of making a bold film. The year has changed, but Vivek Agnihotri hasn’t. He’s coming back with a new movie. A few hours ago, its title was changed from The Delhi Files to The Bengal Files. Many people believe that after the Delhi election results, Agnihotri smartly changed the title to target Bengal instead.

Cast

• Palomi Ghosh
• Anupam Kher
• Pallavi Joshi
• Mithun Chakraborty
• Babbu Maan
• Bodhisattva Sharma
• Puneet Issar
• Namashi Chakraborty
• Govind Namdev
• Divya Palat
• Mohan Kapur
• Anubha Arora
• Satwant Kaur
• Ankit Bisht

Photos

Release Date

5 September 2025

Genre

• Crime
• Triller
• Mystery
• Politics

Director

Vivek Agnihotri

Overview

Very few movies are made in Bollywood that, whether you love them or hate them, become impossible to ignore when their name comes up. The Kashmir Files is one such film that always leaves the public divided. Some people call it propaganda, label it as dirty politics, or claim it’s full of lies. Others watch the scenes and remember their own real-life experiences, crying as they relive those painful memories. Who has the courage to ask them why they are crying?

However, the director himself released a 10-minute video explaining the reason behind the title change to The Bengal Files. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should — it answers a lot of questions.

From what I understood, even earlier the film’s full title included the word Bengal. It was originally The Delhi Files: Bengal Chapter. So the new title, The Bengal Files, isn’t a big change. There’s no real reason to create unnecessary controversy. But yes, the teaser itself will likely cause some.

How can an 80-second video make you realize how little we actually know about our country? Maybe more has been hidden from us than what has been shown. Vivek Agnihotri himself said that if The Kashmir Files made you emotional, this new film The Bengal Files will shake you from within, shock you, and scare you even more. And after watching the teaser of The Bengal Files, it’s clear he wasn’t joking — the teaser openly says that Bengal is becoming the next Kashmir.

The courage shown by a Bollywood director here is something else — unbelievable. Whether people praise or criticize him, one great thing about Vivek Agnihotri is that he always casts actors who truly know how to act. There are no shortcuts in his films. Once again, this movie features some powerful actors, and they’ve been presented in a very intense way in the teaser. Each one of them looks serious and strong.

The Bengal Files film even includes some historical events, showing figures like Gandhi and Jinnah, which means it will highlight both modern and pre-independence India. But personally, the most haunting part is the final scene of the teaser — it’s hard to describe it in words. Whether in cinema or real life, making such films is never easy.

The teaser of The Bengal Files doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, but even if you close your eyes and just listen, the background music alone will make you feel uncomfortable. And that’s exactly the goal — to make every person who already dislikes films like The Kashmir Files movie feel uneasy, or those who call it propaganda without even watching it.

Will this movie The Bengal Files be a success at the box office or fail badly? No one knows. But after watching the teaser, it feels like releasing the film in Bengal might be very difficult. There’s a high chance it could be banned. Something similar was attempted last time with The Kerala Story, which was also based on real-life incidents and was politically sensitive. But even that film didn’t show the kind of boldness The Bengal Files seems to be showing.

Just calling Bengal the next Kashmir in the first impression isn’t enough — the movie will also need to present facts, which will surely cause major controversy. Right, left, center — keeping all politics aside, the teaser is very powerful. If nothing else, the way the actors are presented will definitely appeal to cinema lovers. They won’t be able to stop themselves from watching the full film.

And if after watching this teaser, you still can’t support such filmmaking, then maybe the film should be banned — perhaps that’s what Bollywood audiences deserve. Maybe real cinema is just not meant for them.

Honestly tell me — how did you find The Bengal Files teaser? On September 5, will you buy a ticket or try to stop others from buying one? Do you have a problem with the film or with Vivek Agnihotri? Speak the truth.