The movie Kerala Story that released on May 5 in theaters earlier this month by Sudipo Sen, gained a lot of popularity and controversy. The movie claims that 32,000 Non-Muslim girls were forced to convert to Islam and recruited to terrorism.
Soon after its release the movie became a great success and hit the box office in many states. But the state of West Bengal banned the movie on May 8 and Tamil Nadu took the movie off the theaters on May 7.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that the decision was taken “to avoid any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state”. Whereas the Tamil Nadu government said despite providing security to multiplexes and theaters, their owners decided to stop screening due to lack of enthusiastic response from the general public.
May 18 The Supreme Court asked West Bengal to pause the ban of the movie but also asked the makers to ensure that the film carried a disclaimer stating that it is fictionalized and there is no data of the events to confirm that 32,000 women were forced to convert to Islam and join ISIS.
This Judgment was led by Chief Justice Chandrachud, he said that it was important that the State government maintained law and order since the film has been granted certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The critics point out that the movie is a claim without any evidence. Whereas the opposition party accused the BJP government of propagating communal hatred and stereotypes. The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has waived out the tax for the film.
The movie has somehow become more political than entertaining. It reminds how the movie Kashmir Files garnered the same kind of attention from the government. It is hard to not think that these movies could be some kind of a political obliteration. Movies are supposed to be a source of entertainment and not something that is imposed.
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are states that are way different compared to the other states of the country. Which is why the movie couldn’t mark its place in these states. There are so many factors as to why the movie can not be recognised unlike the other states and one of the main reasons can be the government of the state of West Bengal.
Apart from that the movie might not have a huge response from Tamil Nadu due to regional reasons one due to the language of the film even though the movie has got a dubbed version the people are uninclined since the regional industry has got a great fraternity, plus the state and its people have mostly been unhinged to such politically acclaimed intertain.
Will the movie be a success in the states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu like the other states? or is it too late?
Category: Politics, Entertainment
Tags: movie, politics, government, Supreme Court, Kerala
