A political and cinematic controversy has erupted over the Bollywood film Kesari Chapter 2, with an FIR filed against the makers for allegedly distorting Bengal’s freedom movement.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have condemned the film, calling it a deliberate insult to Bengal’s revolutionary legacy.
The FIR, registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Bidhannagar South police station, names seven producers of Kesari Chapter 2. The complaint accuses the film of misrepresenting iconic freedom fighters, such as:
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Khudiram Bose, renamed “Khudiram Singh”
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Barindra Kumar Ghosh, shown as “Birendra Kumar from Amritsar”
The TMC called these alterations “not mere mistakes, but an attempt to erase Bengal’s role” in India’s independence struggle.
At a press conference, TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh and Arup Chakraborty said:
“This is a conspiracy to whitewash the contributions of Bengali revolutionaries. It’s shocking this film got a censor certificate.”
They demanded the film be pulled from cinemas and re-edited to correct the names and affiliations of the historical figures.
Without directly naming the film, CM Mamata Banerjee weighed in on the controversy:
“There are attempts to undermine Bengal’s contributions to India’s freedom movement. The BJP is behind this distortion of our cultural and historical identity.”
She accused the Centre of using Bollywood to politically marginalize Bengal