The Kerala Story row: What PM Modi, Anurag Thakur, Shabana Azmi, AR Rahman, Kangana Ranaut said
Produced by: Harshita Tyagi
Designed by: Pragati
‘The Kerala Story’, directed by filmmaker Sudipto Sen, has left the country divided. The movie, which depicts women from the state joining the Islamic State, has snowballed into a political fight. While West Bengal has banned the film, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have declared it tax-free.
The Kerala Story debate
Kerala’s ruling Left Front government has criticised the movie, in particular about its claims regarding "approximately 32,000 women" who have purportedly gone missing from the state, having been converted to Islam and later on sent to join the terror group, the Islamic State.
The Kerala Story Controversy
The film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah claimed that the movie is based on a true story. However, the film’s description on its YouTube trailer was edited from "heartbreaking and gut-wrenching stories of 32,000 females in Kerala..." to "true stories of three young girls from Kerala”.
The Kerala Story Controversy
The Adah Sharma starrer-Kerala Story’s box office collection is inching closer to the Rs 50 crore mark as it has minted a total of Rs 45.72 crore within the first four days of its release. It made Rs 8.03 crore on Friday, Rs 11.22 crore on Saturday, Rs 16.40 crore on Sunday, and Rs 10.07 crore on its first Monday, as per film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
Box office collection
PM Narendra Modi backed the movie during a Karnataka elections rally, saying, “Such a beautiful state (Kerala) of the country, where people are hardworking and talented. The Kerala Story brings out the terror conspiracies happening in that state. It is unfortunate that Congress can be seen standing with this terror trend that is seeking to ruin the country.”
PM on The Kerala Story
The West Bengal government has decided to ban the movie The Kerala Story to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “What is The Kashmir Files? It is to humiliate one section. What is The Kerala story?... It is a distorted story.”
Mamata Banerjee bans The Kerala Story in Bengal
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi called out boycott gang on Monday amid the row. "Those who speak of banning #The Kerala Story are as wrong as those who wanted to ban Aamir Khan's #Laal Singh Chaddha (sic). Once a film has been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification nobody has the right to become an extra constitutional authority," tweeted the 72-year-old actor.
Shabana Azmi calls
out boycott gang
Reacting to Shabana Azmi's tweet, Kangana wrote, “This is a very valid point except for the fact that no one asked for a ban on LSC people just didn’t want to see it for many reasons, major reason was it was a remake of a very popular old Hollywood classic which most people had already seen…”
Kangana Ranaut on
Shabana Azmi’s tweet
On Sunday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur lashed out at those who are opposing The Kerala Story film. "The Kerala Story is not just a film. There are some people who want to lure girls into the path of terrorism, and their faces have been exposed in this film. Some political parties are opposing it. If they are protesting then they support PFI, terrorism, and ISIS," he said.
Anurag Thakur on
the controversial movie
In the midst of this raging controversy, Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman reshared a video on his Twitter account, which is an old video of a Hindu wedding that took place inside a mosque in Kerala in 2020. The original post had captioned the video, “Here is another #KeralaStory.” The Academy Award-winning music composer wrote, “Bravo, love for humanity has to be unconditional and healing,” while resharing the video.