Controversy clouds ‘The Kerala Story’ ahead of its release

The netizens have now taken to the social media to express their displeasure against the filmmakers and say that the movie is promoting the Sangh Parivar agenda.

Hyderabad: The upcoming Bollywood film ‘The Kerala Story’ has been making a loud noise on social media after the release of its trailer. The movie courted controversy because it reportedly tells how thousands of young women from Kerala became victims of love jihad, joined the Islamic State (IS) and got involved in terror-related activities.

‘The Kerala Story’ seems to have touched a nerve and has landed in troubled waters for portraying the movie storyline as a real story. Statements were made earlier that 32,000 Hindu women from Kerala have been converted to Islam and recruited into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

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The netizens have now taken to the social media to express their displeasure against the filmmakers and say that the movie is promoting the Sangh Parivar agenda.

A section of politicians and people are protesting, demanding that the movie be banned from screening in India by the Censor Board. The Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, has hit out at the movie makers and said that the movie trailer is creating communal polarisation and spreading hate propaganda against the State.

On the other hand, the Kerala State Committee of the Muslim Youth League has announced a reward of Rs 1 crore if anyone proves the allegations that 32,000 Keralites got converted to Islam and fled to Syria.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor slammed the makers and tweeted, “It may be *your* Kerala story. It is not *our* Kerala story. Let me stress, I am not calling for a ban on the film. Freedom of expression does not cease to be valuable just because it can be misused. But Keralites have every right to say loud & clear that this is a misrepresentation of our reality (sic).”

‘The Kerala Story’ is directed by Sudipto Sen, and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The film stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani. It is scheduled to be released on May 5.