The Mumbai Police reported that a crew member of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ received a threatening message from an unknown number. The director of the film, Sudipto Sen, informed the police that the message threatened the crew member not to step out alone from home and accused them of not doing a good thing by showing the story. The police provided security to the crew member, but no FIR has been registered as they are yet to receive a written complaint.
The film ‘The Kerala Story narrates the story of three women who are trafficked to ISIS camps after being converted to Islam through marriage. The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal banned the movie on May 8, citing “maintenance of peace” and to avoid incidents of “hatred and violence” in the state. West Bengal became the first state to ban the film. The Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, directed the state chief secretary to remove the movie from all theatres where it was being screened.
The decision to ban the movie evoked a sharp reaction from the producer of the film, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who said they will pursue legal options against the decision. He told ANI, “If the state government won’t listen to us, we will explore legal avenues. However, whatever course we take will be based on legal advice.” The film has been made tax-free in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, but there is a continuing political outcry around the movie.
‘The Kerala Story’ stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, and Sonia Balani in lead roles. The film evoked sharp opposition from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who called it “RSS propaganda”. A massive controversy erupted around the film after its trailer claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS. However, in the face of protests, the contentious figure in the trailer was later withdrawn, and its trailer description was changed to a story of three women from Kerala.
