LI Network
Published on: 05 May 2023 at 15:34 IST
Kerala High Court denied a request to stop the release of the controversial film “The Kerala Story.” The court stated that the movie would be accepted by the secular society of Kerala and questioned how a fictional account could create sectarianism and conflict in society.
The court also requested information regarding the film’s trailer and questioned what was offensive in it. The court emphasized that screening the film would not cause any harm, and citizens have the right to believe in and spread their religion and God.
The court also noted that the film’s teaser, which was released in November, did not contain anything offensive, and there was nothing wrong in stating that Allah is the only God.
The Kerala High Court bench was responding to a set of petitions seeking to revoke the censor certificate of the film. The petitioners argued that the film would corrupt the minds of innocent people and that no organization had yet confirmed the existence of “Love Jihad” in the state.
The bench further noted that many films had previously made references to other communities, including Hindu monks and Christian priests, and questioned why those films were not viewed as fictional. The Kerala High Court asked how the film could incite sectarianism and conflict in society and questioned why this film was considered so different.
The court commented that the film’s trailer did not contain any offensive content aimed at any particular community. It noted that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had reviewed the movie and deemed it suitable for release. The producer of the film, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, agreed to remove the part of the teaser that claimed that over 32,000 women from Kerala had been recruited to ISIS.
Shah informed the Kerala High Court that the relevant portion would be removed from the film’s social media accounts shortly. In response to the criticism, the movie’s makers withdrew the claim of 32,000 women from Kerala recruited to ISIS and instead described it as the story of three women from Kerala in the trailer’s description on YouTube.
The film “The Kerala Story” is centered around the alleged forced conversion of young women to Islam in Kerala, who are subsequently recruited by the militant Islamist group ISIS. The movie was released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam in theaters across India on May 5. The film features Adah Sharma, Siddhi Idnani, Sonia Balani, and Yogita Bihani in leading roles.