Mithun Chakraborty Lashes Out at ‘Pseudo Secularism’
Veteran actor questions the tagging of certain films as ‘propaganda movies’ and asserts that Vivek Agnihotri’s Bengal Files ‘portrays the truth on screen’
Mithun Chakraborty’s latest film, The Bengal Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, on the 1946 Calcutta Killings at Noakhali, has generated controversy even before it hits theatres on September 5. The release of its trailer was stopped at Kolkata recently.
The veteran actor talks about the direction his career has been taking, and his aspirations for the future, apart from the film itself.
Q Do you agree that Bengal Files is a hard-hitting film? What is your view on the trailer release being stopped?
Yes, it’s hard-hitting as well as a film that portrays truth on the screen. All this happened before I was born. Six generations don’t know the story. Even I knew only one line about it —‘The Great Kolkata Killings.’ The stopping of the trailer release seems to have been planned. Why stop the release of something you haven’t even seen? What is the harm in knowing the facts about that happened in our country? Almost 40,000 Hindus were massacred in a genocide at Noakhali. Why are there objections to people of our country learning about our own history?
Q People tag such movies as propaganda films today. What do you have to say about that?
Why it is called a propaganda film? There are pseudo-secular and pseudo-intellectual people. “Yeh log secular kaise hai jabki ek beef khata hai ur ek pork khata hai? Secularism toh woh hoga jo dono [food] khayege.”
Q Bengal Files brings to light a very dark and disturbing chapter of history. What made you say ‘Yes’ to this role? Is it because you are a Bengali?
I didn’t choose to be part of Bengal Files just because I am a Bengali. Initially, I didn’t know how I could play this character as he had a very tough life — his tongue was burned; he lived in and around garbage bins, eating food scrounged from them. I had to speak with a stammer. Gradually, I picked up certain nuances that suited the character, and I became very excited.
Q Shantanu Mukherji, grandson of Gopal Chandra Mukherji, who featured in the Great Kolkata Killings, has filed an FIR claiming that his grandfather’s identity has been distorted. Your view?
I don’t think we have distorted his identity. Having said that, Yes, as filmmakers, we do take cinematic liberty. He has the right to ask questions.
