The Bengal Files by Vivek Agnihotri takes its time to get to the point. Vivek has a three-hour, twenty-minute runtime, which is unusual in a time when films hardly ever go over three hours.

Cinema has never really been constrained by time, despite what some may think.

Technical details can occasionally be overlooked when the topic is one that no filmmaker has previously tackled, particularly in these delicate times.

Shiv Pandit (Darshan Kumaar) and Bharati Banerjee (Pallavi Joshi) are two characters who tell the story of the horrifying Direct Action Day in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1946.

Ghosts of the past haunt both: one who lost everything in the riots in Kolkata, and the other who is still scarred by the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s.

When a young girl goes missing in the present, suspicion is placed on Bharati and MLA Sardar Husseini (Saswata Chatterjee), bringing their worlds together.

A detailed account of the 1946 riots takes up the first half. The extended riot scenes feel indulgent, despite the premise's inherent appeal.

This is a critique of Vivek's cinematic approach rather than the actual events. It appears that editor Shankh Rajadhyaksh did not contribute much to reducing the excess. Although the plot is coherent, it drags a little before interval.

In terms of blood and gore, the filmmakers also don't hold anything back, which accounts for the "A" grade. Viewers should be ready for a detailed, uncut depiction of a beheading.