Despite the criticism it received over some facts, the film is roaring at the box office. 
Special 
Despite the criticism it received over some facts, the film is roaring at the box office. Sudipto Sen's directorial venture, The Kerala Story, finally crossed the Rs 100 crore mark on the ninth day of its release in the theatres. After having a successful opening weekend, the movie maintained a solid hold at the box office during the second week.
According to the early estimates, The Kerala Story earned Rs 19.50 crore in India on its ninth day of release, making its total box office collection Rs 112.87 crore, reported Sacnilk. However, on Friday, even after seeing a minor drop in earnings, the movie garnered around Rs 12.23 crore at the box office.
Despite the criticism it received over some facts, the film is roaring at the box office.
Film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh said that the film had brought the audience to the theatres through word of mouth despite being based on a "controversial" subject. He also said the curiosity of the audience triggered by the ban in West Bengal has also helped the film’s fate at the ticket counters.
"That means it will get in the audience since people want to know what it is all about. Going by the numbers so far, it will rock the box office," he added.
The Kerala Story is based on three Keralan women who were "forcefully converted" and subsequently made to join the terrorist group ISIS. The film is produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and has Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, Sonia Balani, and Devadarshini in pivotal parts.
On Friday, The Kerala Story was released on more than 200 screens in the US and Canada. On the development, director Sudipto Sen said the country was in denial of the long-existing issue in the state of Kerala. "The Kerala Story is a mission which is beyond the creative boundaries of cinema, a movement that should reach the masses all over the world and raise awareness."
"The film's subject was hidden from the masses and deserved to be told. We made the film in order to initiate deliberation worldwide," Vipul Shah, the producer of the film, told a group of Indian American reporters during a virtual news conference. "This is a very bold, honest and true film which in the beginning got no support, today stands at the point of releasing worldwide with a spectacular box office success in just 6 days."
The film has been boycotted by cinemas across Tamil Nadu and has been criticised by many for originally claiming in a teaser that 32,000 girls from Kerala fled the state to join ISIS. The film has been banned by the West Bengal government headed by Mamata Banerjee.
(With inputs from PTI)
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