In what can be seen a big relief for the makers of the film, Calcutta High Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by the grandson of Gopal Mukherjee, also known as Gopal Patha, against the release of the movie 'The Bengal Files'.
The petitioner, Santanu Mukherjee, claimed that his grandfather, Gopal Chandra Mukherjee, was depicted in a defamatory manner in Vivek Agnihotri's film, and sought a probe into the censor certification. He sought a probe into what parameters were taken up by the censor board before certifying the movie.
Justice Amrita Sinha noted that the writ petition filed by Shantanu Mukherjee was premised on the inaction on the part of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to reply to his Right to Information (RTI) application seeking details about the board's consideration of the depiction of historical figures in the movie.The writ petition filed on the said cause of action will not be maintainable, the Court said."It is hereby dismissed," the Court ordered.
The film, based on the communal riots of August 1946 in Kolkata, known as the ‘Great Calcutta Killings', was released last Friday.
"The petitioner intended to obtain certain information under RTI. The time period under which the information was sought has expired," Justice Amrita Sinha said.During the hearing last week, the petitioner had claimed that Mukherjee's character had been termed 'Patha', a Bengali connotation for goat, in the movie.
Mukherjee ran a goat meat shop in the 1940s at the Bowbazar area in central Kolkata.The petitioner submitted that his grandfather was an eminent freedom fighter on whom the film was made.Alleging that the filmmaker has depicted him as being involved in the events of August 16, 1946, he claimed that this is not true.The plea argued that the film misrepresents his grandfather, portraying him with derogatory terms such as “patha” (goat) and “kasai” (butcher).
He argued that such depictions dishonour the legacy of Gopal Patha, who played a prominent role in protecting Hindu neighbourhoods of central Kolkata during the communal riots that followed Direct Action Day in 1946.Mukherjee told the court that he had earlier issued a legal notice to the filmmaker, filed multiple FIRs, and even sought information from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) through an RTI application. However, he claimed he received no response.
His petition sought the removal or modification of scenes that he said maligned his grandfather, as well as a stay on the film’s release in West Bengal.The petition also called for an independent probe into the role of the CBFC, pointing out that director Agnihotri himself is a board member and should recuse from decisions concerning the film.
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