Kolkata: Vivek Agnihotri’s much-hyped film 'The Bengal Files' is staring at a box office nightmare. Despite running in theatres for over 10 days, the film has failed to cross even the ₹15 crore mark in India—a shocking downfall for a movie that was marketed as a hard-hitting historical drama.

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, 'The Bengal Files' earned only ₹92 lakh net on Day 10, taking its total to a meagre ₹13.92 crore.

The film’s weekend saw a slight bump in occupancy, but the numbers remain dismal for a nationwide release. On Sunday, it managed an overall 55.50% Hindi occupancy, with afternoon shows peaking at 70.41% before tapering off.

Adding to the humiliation, theatres across India have drastically cut down its shows. Mumbai is running just 66 screenings, Delhi NCR 84, and Pune 42. Other major metros have almost abandoned it—Bengaluru is at 36 shows, Hyderabad at a mere 6, while cities like Chandigarh (5 shows), Jaipur (11 shows), and Bhopal (8 shows) reflect the film’s fading appeal. The movie continues to find no takers in West Bengal, the very state it is based on.

Desperate to keep momentum alive, Agnihotri hosted a private screening at Kolkata’s National Library on Saturday, organised by socio-cultural group Khola Hawa with BJP leaders like Swapan Dasgupta and Suvendu Adhikari backing the event. “550 people will watch tonight, 2000 are waiting,” the filmmaker posted on X.

However, the grim reality remains: 'The Bengal Files', based on the communal riots of Direct Action Day in 1946, has been outrightly rejected at the box office. The film was released on September 5 and is already battling for survival, with horrifyingly low numbers spelling a disaster for its future run.