The Kerala Story director Sudipto Sen: Hall owners are getting threat calls in Bengal

Sudipta Sen, the director of The Kerala Story, landed in Kolkata on Friday and said that cinema is made mixed up with politics. The director and the cast were due to come to Kolkata on Friday. Sudipta came to the city on an early morning flight and got to know that his film was not being shown in any cinema hall. The Supreme Court ordered on Thursday that there would be no problem in showing the film in Bengal. Sudipta said he does not understand why the film is still not shown and where the problem lies. 

Sudipta held a press conference on Friday. He said, “The TMC MP Mahua Moitra shared the BBC documentary India: The Modi Questions, which was on the 2002 Gujarat riot. Everyone supported her that time, and even CM Mamata Banerjee stood beside her.” Then he questioned, “What was our (the producer Vipul Shah and I) crime?” Sudipta also reminded people that Mamata stood beside the film Padmavat amidst the country-wide controversy. “Previously, there has been no problem in Bengal regarding any controversial film, but it is happening now,” he said. He further alleged that the distributor and theatre owners are getting threat calls. “Many hall owners and exhibitors called Vipul sir in Mumbai and told him that they wanted to run the film but they are receiving threat calls so they drop The Kerala Story from screening. We could not identify the callers but once we do, we will tell you. If we could name the terrorists, we can also reveal their names. But people don’t disclose their names in a threat call,” he said. 

The state government banned the film on May 8, with the logic that showing the film can hamper peace in the state. Sudipta was vocal against this step. He addressed the citizens, “The film is going in around 12,000 halls all over India. No problem was created anywhere. Then what is the problem here? Please be vocal.” 

Sudipta said that he came to Kolkata with lots of hope. He thought that he would roam around the halls and meet Bengali people. But he is not sure what to do now, since his film is not being shown. He said, “I am not a politician. We do not know anything else. But the film is not shown even after the ban is lifted. this is frustrating.” 

The Supreme Court ordered that the film must announce at the beginning that all the incidents are imaginary. Only then, it can be seen in Bengal. Will Sudipta change the editing? He replied, “What do you mean by imaginary? This film is based on true events. I know the truth, whatever the Supreme Court orders.”