With the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections on the horizon, linguistic identity has moved to the forefront of state politics. Against the backdrop of alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states under the guise of cracking down on Bangladeshi infiltrators, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is sharpening her “Bengali pride” pitch to counter the saffron party’s “infiltration” narrative in Bengal.
In a fresh move seen as both cultural promotion and political strategy, the state government has made it mandatory for all cinema halls and multiplexes in West Bengal to screen at least one Bengali film per day during prime time — between 3 pm and 9 pm — throughout the year. The decision, announced on Wednesday by the Information and Cultural Affairs (I&CA) Department, replaces a 2018 order that defined prime time from 12 pm to 9 pm.
While Mamata’s political message behind the notification, issued under the West Bengal Cinema (Control) Act, 1954, is clear, her government claims the move aims to boost the Bengali film industry and ensure that local language films remain accessible despite the dominance of Bollywood and big-budget South Indian productions.
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“An attempt is being made to strangle the Bengali language. The Chief Minister is agitating. Bengali cinema will prevail in Bengal,” Sports and Youth Affairs minister Arup Biswas said at a press conference in Nandan, adding that the decision was taken after consultations with filmmakers, producers, distributors and theatre owners to promote Bengali films.
Minister Indranil Sen echoed the sentiment, saying, “The Chief Minister wants Bengali cinema to be promoted and expanded. Through this, Bengal will see a renaissance.”
The move comes amid Mamata’s repeated attacks on the BJP, which she has labelled as a “party of non-Bengalis,” accusing it of targeting Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states. Political observers see the film screening directive as part of the TMC’s broader strategy to consolidate Bengali identity as a poll plank.
Prominent Tollywood personalities, including Dev, Rituparna Sengupta, Kaushik Gangopadhyay, Shivprasad Mukherjee and Srikant Mohta attended Wednesday’s meeting at Nandan where the decision was finalised. Industry veteran and cinema hall owner Arijit Dutta welcomed the move but emphasised that “quality of films is as important as the number of shows.”
For years, the Bengali film industry has complained about losing prime-time slots to Hindi and South Indian blockbusters, often forcing good regional films out of theatres prematurely. The government hopes that the new rule will not only reverse that trend but also serve as a cultural assertion of Bengal’s linguistic pride ahead of a politically charged election season.
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