PremiumThe Kerala Story: Amid calls for ban, Adah Sharma-starrer’s preview held in Kochi, more shows planned in State
The Kerala Story, which courted controversy ahead of its May 5 release, revolves around a group of Malayali women who converted to Islam to join ISIS
Last Updated: 02.31 PM, May 05, 2023
Director Sudipto Sen’s upcoming movie The Kerala Story has been marred by controversy, ever since its first teaser was released online last year. Now, with the movie, which has Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani and Soni Balani as part of the cast, gearing up for release, the protests in the States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have intensified – with many calling for a ban on the film.
With the Supreme Court refusing to entertain petitions seeking to stop the release of the movie, the first preview show of The Kerala Story was held in Kochi on Wednesday. The show, held at a theatre in MG Road, was attended by a select group of people including BJP vice president KS Radhakrishnan and director-actor Major Ravi. None of the cast or crew members had attended the event.
The film is expected to release in two theatres in Kerala from May 5, with at least two shows in each of them. In Tamil Nadu too, “some groups have called for protests,” according to a report in Hindustan Times.
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Earlier in the week, the makers had made a correction in the trailer. It had earlier stated that it presents “gut-wrenching stories of 32,000 females in Kerala”. This was changed to “a compilation of true stories of three young girls from different parts of Kerala”. The film was cleared with ‘A’ certificate by the CBFC and 10 cuts, one of which reportedly featured an interview segment with the former chief minister of Kerala.
The film’s producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah said that the CBFC had scrutinized the movie for almost one-and-a-half months before clearing it for release. “It shows that they have accepted our truth,” he said, in an interview with Money Control. He also recently screened the film in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. The institution had previously rejected screening The Kashmir Files.