The Kerala Story | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sudipto Sen |
Written by |
|
Produced by | Vipul Amrutlal Shah |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Prasantanu Mohapatra |
Edited by | Sanjay Sharma |
Music by |
|
Production company | Sunshine Pictures [1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes [2] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | ₹15–20 crore [3] |
Box office | est.₹303.97 crore [4] |
The Kerala Story is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. [1] It stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani. The plot follows a group of women from Kerala who are coerced into converting to Islam and joining the Islamic State. [5] [6] Marketed as a true story, the film is premised on the Hindutva conspiracy theory of "love jihad", [7] and claims that thousands of Hindu women from Kerala have been converted to Islam and recruited in the Islamic State. [8] [9] However, the filmmakers had to accept the addition of two disclaimers — that the figures in the film were inauthentic, and that the film was a "fictionalised" depiction of their minds. [10]
The Kerala Story released in theatres on 5 May 2023. With a worldwide gross of ₹303.97 crore (US$36 million), it became the ninth-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023. [11] [12] It was heavily promoted by the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leveraged the film in its campaigning for the Karnataka assembly election. [13] [14] However, film critics accorded it overwhelmingly negative reviews, characterising the work as Islamophobic propaganda. [15] [16] [6] The film has also faced protracted litigation and protests, primarily in Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Fatima is accused of being a terrorist and caught on the Afghan -Iran border during the interrogation she revels that her name is Shalini Unnikrishanan and from Kerala who was brain washed into becoming a terrorist.Shalini lived with her mother and grandmother in Kerala who went to study nursing in the city and met three friends Nimah Matthew,Gitanjali and Asifa. The three girls bonded well and Asifa who belonged to a Islamic Jihadi group would always tell them that there is only one religion and one god in the world and people who wont believe him will not attain salvation.Asifa along with Abdul and Rameez creates such situation among the girls that out of fear Shalini and Gitanajali start to wear Hijab and start to believe that no other god exits.While Nimah who feels something fishy decides to spend less time with the group and parts away.Shalini becomes pregnant with Abdul and is forced to accept Islam but Abdul flees as per the plan and she is forced to marry Ishaq believing secure future for her and her kid.But what Shalini does not know is that she will be illegally deported across many borders and taken to Syria to become a suicide bomber.
The film was produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who is also the creative director. [1]
It released in theatres on 5 May 2023. [17] The digital streaming rights of the film were purchased by ZEE5. [18] The film premiered on ZEE5 from 16 February 2024. [19] [20]
Prior to its domestic release, the film went through CBFC scrutiny and received an adults only classification following a number of requested changes. [21]
The teaser released on 3 November 2022, [22] featuring the character of Fathima Ba, a Hindu Malayali nurse who had converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State, before ending up in an Afghan jail. [23] She claimed to be one of 32,000 girls from Hindu and Christian communities who are missing from Kerala and have been recruited into the Islamic State after being converted to Islam. [8] Sen, the director of the film, has made such claims for years. [23] [8] In 2018, he directed a documentary on what he claimed to be the involuntary mass conversion of 32,000 Hindu and Christian girls to Islam as part of an "international conspiracy" to render Kerala an Islamic state. [24] [25] [26]
While the events portrayed in the film are loosely based on the accounts of three women from Kerala, namely: Nimisha Nair, Sonia Sebastian, and Merin Jacob, who converted to Islam and traveled with their respective husbands to Afghanistan to join the Islamic State between 2016 and 2018, the claimed figures in the film are wildly inaccurate, being based on mistranslations, misquotes, and misrepresentations of unrelated statistics. [27] [28] [8] No more than 100-200 Indians have joined the group from the entire country, with people from Kerala accounting for less than a quarter of them. [8] The figures posited in the film also exceed the entire strength of the Islamic State. [29]
Later, in response to litigation, the film-makers removed all promotional materials, including the teaser, that had the erroneous figure. [30] However, the film repeated the claims multiple times, and once raised it even higher to 50,000. [31] In response to further litigation, Sen admitted to all figures in the film being inauthentic, and that the film was a "fictionalised" portrayal of real-life events. [10]
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its associated organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have supported the film; the party used it for their political messaging in the campaigning for Karnataka assembly elections. [29] [32] Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed the film at an election rally in Karnataka, claimed that it had unearthed a "conspiracy", and alleged the Indian National Congress — which opposed the film — to support terrorism. [32] [33] BJP President J. P. Nadda held special screenings of the film and invited "young Hindu girls" to watch it with them. [32] The film was made tax free in Madhya Pradesh as well as Uttar Pradesh; both the states have BJP governments. [34] Organiser , the official mouthpiece of RSS, described the film as a "dangerous truth". [29]
In Kerala, both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress, the only two parties to have governed the state since Independence, have objected to the film for spreading "communal misinformation" in tune with the agenda of the Sangh Parivar. [23] [35] [36] In Tamil Nadu, protests were held by Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) and multiple Muslim political organisations. [15]
The film has attracted public protests in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. [33] [37] It fared poorly in Tamil Nadu, apparently forcing the Tamil Nadu Multiplex Association to stop further screenings; however, the filmmakers dispute the claims and allege political censorship. [15] The film had a similar fate in Kerala. [37]
On the eve of release, several petitions were filed at the Madras High Court, Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court of India, calling for a ban on grounds of promoting communal disharmony. [38] The petitions were either declined to be heard or dismissed by the courts; [39] however, the film-makers were asked to remove all promotional materials, including the teaser, that claimed thirty two thousand girls to have converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State in real life. [30]
On 8 May, the Government of West Bengal banned the movie, characterising the film as "hate speech", and citing adverse intelligence reports that had reported increased communal tensions in the audience. [40] The filmmakers challenged the decision in the Supreme Court and the ban was stayed. [41] However, the filmmakers had to accept the addition of two disclaimers — that the figures in the film were inauthentic, and that the film was a "fictionalised" portrayal of real-life events. [10]
On its opening day, the film grossed ₹8.03 crore in India, [42] making it the fifth highest opener in India for 2023. [43] As of 15 June 2023 [update] , the film had grossed ₹288.04 crore (US$35 million) in India and ₹15.64 crore (US$1.9 million) overseas for a worldwide gross collection of ₹303.97 crore (US$36 million), becoming the seventh-highest grossing Hindi film of 2023. [4] The film performed well in northern India but underperformed in the south. [37]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 14% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.5/10. [44]
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 0.5 out of 5 stars, calling it a "lengthy WhatsApp forward", and writing that Sen's work was laughably inept and in pursuance of an insidious agenda. [45] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, characterising it as a "poorly-made, poorly-acted rant" that flattened Muslims into absolute evils. [46] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in found the raison d'être of the film to lie in propagating Islamophobia, with every Muslim character being coded as a fanatic. [47] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu described the work as "burlesque" propaganda that borrowed its understanding of Islam, from "hate-filled Whatsapp groups" and sought to turn the audience into purveyors of hate by peddling "half-truths". [48]
Deepanjana Pal, reviewing for Film Companion , commented that the film was a "Giant Whatsapp forward" that could be hardly called a film, critiquing it for being political propaganda aimed at demonising Keralite Muslims and tapping into contemporary Hindu nationalist anxieties; Sen was "glaringly inept" in tackling the causes of radicalisation with sensitivity and merely preyed upon the grief of real survivors and victims. [49] Sowmya Rajendran, reviewing for The News Minute , rated the film 1 star out of 5 star; she panned the film as "no-nuance propaganda" where women were treated as objects who were to be fought for between religions and ideologies by men. [31] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54]
The music of the film is composed by Viresh Sreevalsa and Bishakh Jyoti.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Pagal Parindey" | Ozil Dalal | Sunidhi Chauhan, Bishakh Jyoti | 2:04 |
2. | "Ambo Ambambo" | Viresh Sreevalsa | Athul Narukara | 1:52 |
3. | "Athira Ravil" | Viresh Sreevalsa | K. S. Chithra | 2:07 |
4. | "Tu Mila" | Ozil Dalal | K. S. Chithra | 2:07 |
5. | "Aakhir Kyun" | Anant, Porshia (Kurdish), Mahalakshmi Iyer | Bishakh Jyoti | 5:01 |
6. | "Aakhir Kyun Unplugged" | Anant | Bishakh Jyoti | 5:08 |
Ayesha Azmi, born and known professionally as Ayesha Takia is an Indian former actress and model who worked predominantly in Hindi films. Takia made her debut in 2004 with the action thriller Taarzan: The Wonder Car for which she won the Filmfare Best Debut Award and IIFA Award Star Debut of the Year Female. She then subsequently appeared in several successful films including Socha Na Tha (2005), Salaam-e-Ishq (2007), Wanted (2009), and Paathshaala (2010). She is the recipient of the Bengal Film Journalists' Association awards and Screen Awards.
Rajinikanth is an Indian actor, film producer, screenwriter and also a playback singer who has appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema. He began his film career by playing antagonistic and supporting roles before graduating to a lead actor. After starring in numerous commercially successful films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he has continued to hold a matinée idol status in the popular culture of Tamil Nadu. Writing for Slate, Grady Hendrix called him the "biggest movie star you've probably never heard of." Rajinikanth has also worked in other Indian film industries such as Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Adah Sharma is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi and Telugu films. Sharma, after finishing her schooling, made her acting debut with a leading role in the 2008 Hindi horror film, 1920, a box office success. Her portrayal of a possessed woman in the film was critically praised and earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut nomination. After the release of her romantic comedy film, Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), she ventured into the South Indian film industry, playing the leading lady in the Telugu film, Heart Attack (2014). Her other major Telugu films include, S/O Satyamurthy (2015) and Kshanam (2016). She also starred as the lead actress in the film The Kerala Story (2023).
Ayan Mukerji is an Indian filmmaker who works in Hindi films. A member of the Mukherjee-Samarth family, he is known for his collaborations with actor Ranbir Kapoor under Karan Johar's production banner Dharma Productions.
PK is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language science fiction comedy-drama film edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and jointly produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the production banners of Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vinod Chopra Films, respectively. A religious satire, the film stars an ensemble cast of Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla and Sanjay Dutt.
Hasee Toh Phasee is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Vinil Mathew and produced by Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl under Dharma Productions and Phantom Films. The film stars Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra, along with Adah Sharma, Manoj Joshi, Sharat Saxena and Neena Kulkarni.
Alia Advani, known professionally as Kiara Advani, is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu films. After making her acting debut in the comedy film Fugly (2014), she played MS Dhoni's wife in the sports biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). She gained appreciation for playing a sexually unsatisfied wife in the Netflix anthology film Lust Stories (2018) and played the leading lady in the political thriller Bharat Ane Nenu (2018).
Disha Patani is an Indian actress primarily working in Hindi films. Patani made her acting debut with the Telugu film Loafer (2015), and had her first Hindi film release with the biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). After appearing in the Chinese action comedy Kung Fu Yoga (2017), Patani featured in the films Baaghi 2 (2018), Bharat (2019), Malang (2020), Kalki 2898 AD (2024) and Kanguva (2024). She has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list of 2019.
KGF: Chapter 2 is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language period action film written and directed by Prashanth Neel, and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under his Hombale Films banner. It serves as the direct sequel to KGF: Chapter 1 (2018), as well as the second installment in the KGF franchise. The film stars an ensemble cast of Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty, Prakash Raj, Achyuth Kumar, Rao Ramesh, Vasishta N. Simha, Ayyappa P. Sharma, Archana Jois, Saran Shakti, Easwari Rao, John Kokken, T. S. Nagabharana and Malavika Avinash.
Commando 3 is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Aditya Datt and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah & Reliance Entertainment. The film is the third film of Commando franchise following Commando (2013) and Commando 2 (2017). It stars Vidyut Jammwal, with Gulshan Devaiah as the antagonist, alongside Adah Sharma and Angira Dhar. In the film, Karan goes undercover with Bhavana Reddy for an anti-terrorist mission in London.
83 is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film written and directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Deepika Padukone, Kabir Khan, Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Sajid Nadiadwala. Based on the India national cricket team led by Kapil Dev, which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, and jointly written by Khan, along with Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan, Vasan Bala and Sumit Arora, it features an ensemble cast including Ranveer Singh, Padukone, Pankaj Tripathi, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Jiiva, Saqib Saleem, Jatin Sarna, Chirag Patil, Dinker Sharma, Nishant Dahiya, Harrdy Sandhu, Sahil Khattar, Ammy Virk, Adinath Kothare, Dhairya Karwa and R. Badree.
Jugjugg Jeeyo is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language family comedy-drama film directed by Raj Mehta and produced by Dharma Productions and Viacom18 Studios. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Manish Paul, and debutante Prajakta Koli.
The Kashmir Files is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri. The film presents a fictional storyline centred around the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Indian-administered Kashmir. It depicts the exodus and the events leading up to it as a genocide, a framing considered inaccurate by scholars. The film claims that such facts were suppressed by a conspiracy of silence.
Ram Setu is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Satya Dev and follows an archeologist who is investigating the nature of Ram Setu.
Uunchai (transl. Altitude) is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language adventure drama film directed by Sooraj Barjatya, written by Abhishek Dixit on the basis of an original story by Sunil Gandhi, and produced jointly by Rajshri Productions, Boundless Media and Mahaveer Jain Films. The 60th film produced by Rajshri, stars an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta and Sarika.
Jawan ( transl. Soldier) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Atlee in his Hindi film debut. It is produced by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma under Red Chillies Entertainment. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role as a father and son alongside Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika Padukone, Priyamani and Sanya Malhotra. In the film, a jailer of a woman's prison recruits inmates and commits outrageous crimes that shed light on corruption.
Bastar: The Naxal Story is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. It stars Adah Sharma, Indira Tiwari, Vijay Krishna, Shilpa Shukla, Yashpal Sharma, Subrat Dutta and Raima Sen.
{{cite news}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)