Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri seems poised to create a phenomenon with his upcoming film ‘The Delhi Files’. The filmmaker is actively engaged in a comprehensive research process across the nation and beyond to bring a compelling story to the audience, as he always does. Recently, he made waves by initiating a pan-India casting call for the roles of Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the film. Now, he has further heightened anticipation for the film by revealing a glimpse of its story during his research, where he uncovered a significant chapter of Bengal’s violent history.
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri took to his social media and shared his experience of coming across a story of Bengal’s violent history, during the research of the film. He also shared a picture of him from the National Museum and a painting that a Bengali artist gifted him. He further jotted down the caption –
“#TheDelhiFiles Update:
बंगाल की असली कहानी, बंगालियों की ज़ुबानी।
For the last 6 months, I have been on the road visiting different cities and villages, interviewing people, studying local culture, and its history, and trying to understand the root cause of Bengal’s violent history for our next very important film.
Bengal is the only state that was divided twice.
Bengal is the only state where a series of genocides took place back to back – pre and post-independence.
In Independent India, the conflict was between two mainstream national ideologies – Hinduism & Islam. In Bengal, there were four mainstream ideologies – Hinduism, Islam, Communism, and its radical offshoot Naxalism. Also, there was a very strong sense of loss of the great heritage of nationalism, social reform, philosophy, art, literature, and spirituality of Renaissance times. All conflicted with each other.
As a result, the state decayed in all aspects. What was left?
The LEFT.
No other state has seen such massive, continuous religious and political violence like Bengal.
Partition never ended in Bengal. There still exist two nations. And three constitutions.
Bengal needs a true leader with empathy and vision who can lead Bengal to #IndicRenaissance 2.0.
My commitment: बंगाल की असली कहानी, बंगालियों की ज़ुबानी।
Pic 1: National Museum
Pic 2: A Bengali artist gifted this to me.”
<>
#TheDelhiFiles Update:
बंगाल की असली कहानी, बंगालियों की ज़ुबानी।
For the last 6 months, I have been on the road visiting different cities and villages, interviewing people, studying local culture, its history, and trying to understand the root cause of Bengal’s violent history… pic.twitter.com/BlTivILGmp
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) July 1, 2024
</>
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri travelled from Kerala to Kolkata to Delhi, covering vast distances to gather accurate and comprehensive information for his film. He immersed himself in a wealth of literature, reading over 100 books and more than 200 articles related to the historical events that form the backbone of his film. He and his team also travelled across 20 states for research, studying over 7000 research pages and more than 1000 archives.
Talking about Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, after receiving nationwide acclaim and love, Vivek is set to take the audiences on the journey of another hard-hitting film with his forthcoming ‘The Delhi Files’. After The Kashmir Files, prolific producer Abhishek Agarwal has yet again joined hands with Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri with his production banner Abhishek Agarwal Arts on ‘The Delhi Files’.
