Film with SP Mukherjee in lead role to be released in April

The film '1946 Calcutta Killings' in which Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's character is cast in the lead role, will be released next month after the Central Board of Film Certification issued a U/A certificate, the director said.

The film, in Hindi and Bengali, will be released in 350 theatres across the country on April 14, the day before the Bengali new year, its director Milan Bhowmik told PTI.

"The CBFC's Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has asked me to cut one comment about Jawaharlal Nehru uttered by the character of Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the ground that it showed the future Prime Minister of the country in poor light and I agreed," Bhowmik said.

The makers of the film also put a disclaimer stating that the film was aimed at educating the youth about dangers of communal violence as asked by the CBFC Tribunal, he said.

The film will show Shyama Prasad as a great visionary and architect of Bengal, a leader of all communities and not a baiter of any community, Bhowmik said here.

The film, set in Kolkata of 1946, featured historical characters such as Nehru, Jinnah, the British-ruled Bengal's last Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Syama Prasad, the founder of the then Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Shyama Prasad's character is essayed by former Film and Television Institute of India Chairman Gajendra Chauhan.

Bhowmik said he had appealed to the FCAT in early 2017 after the CBFC's Kolkata and Mumbai offices refused to grant certificate to the film on the ground that it had derogatory comments about certain political figures of the time and might cause communal disharmony.

On May 8, 2017, the FCAT suggested some changes and directed the CBFC to come to a decision after Bhowmik submitted the film with necessary cuts. It was sent back to FCAT in July and a nod was given, the director said.

"My film has not glorified riots, people from different communities had been killed in the riots in 1946. My aim is to make people aware of the perpetrators of such acts and to educate the youth about the dangers of riots. I think I was able to explain this to the tribunal members and they understood. Neither are we glorifying any political group or vilifying any community," he said.

The film will have special screenings for invited guests in Tripura on April 4, in Assam on April 8, in Kolkata on April 10 and in Jharkhand on April 12.

"At the screening in Tripura, Governor Tathagata Roy was expected to be present among others," he said adding prominent personalities including leaders of different political parties will be invited at the special shows.