The Kerala Story director Sudipto Sen on not showing the radicalization of men: It was always meant to be the story of three friends who happen to be women

Sudipto Sen's The Kerala Story made Rs 100 crore in its first week of release. Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani are among the starring cast. In the film, women from Kerala are depicted as having converted to Islam and becoming members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

During an interaction with ETimes, Sudipto was asked about the film entering the Rs. 100 crore club. To which he said that he feels very happy, but he has definitely not gone overboard with pride and confidence. The director doesn't want to rest on his laurels since he has plenty of stories left to tell. Sudipto had no doubt that this movie would do well. He devoted seven years to finishing the piece and saw the potential in it.

Sceptics are wondering why women in The Kerala Story are the only ones who become radicalised. Sudipto responded by saying that it has always been intended as the tale of three female friends. This was not part of any grand design. As a follow-up to The Kerala Story, a producer has recently offered him a film about the radicalization of boys.

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In addition, Sudipto explains why his producer, Vipul Shah, is referred to as the "creative director" in The Kerala Story. He acted as a unifying influence for the various imaginative groups that contributed to the project. Both the personnel and the sites presented unique challenges, and Vipul is the one who made this film possible for him.

According to the movie, ISIS is converting and recruiting hundreds of women in Kerala as part of a "love jihad" conspiracy. In the film, converted to Islam, Shalini Unnikrishnan recounts her terrifying ordeal of being kidnapped and forced to join an extremist group after she left home to pursue a career as a nurse. She allowed herself to be duped into joining ISIS and is now serving time in an Afghan prison.