In a reprieve for ‘The Kerala Story‘, a division bench of the Kerala High Court has ruled in favour of the Hindi film ‘The Kerala Story’, and refused to pass a stay order against the film, as asked by the petitioners. The division bench that heard the case comprised of Justice N Nagaresh and Justice Mohammed Nias CP.
The honorable High Court stated that as far as they could see, ‘The Kerala Story’ did not make any allegations against a religion, but only against the terrorist organisation ISIS, aka Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria. The court also batted for freedom of speech and expression, and the filmmakers’ right to artistic freedom. The two judges said that what is shown in the film ‘The Kerala Story’ is just fiction “inspired by true events”, and not history.
The petitioners argued that the film ‘The Kerala Story’ would poison the minds of common people. To which the judges stated that there have been many Hindi and Malayalam films that have references against Hindu monks and Christian priests. “There is a movie where a pujari spits on an idol and that was welcomed by society,” said the bench.
“There are umpteen movies where Hindu sanyasis are depicted as smugglers or rapists. Nothing happens, and no one protests”, added the judges. “What is so special now? How does this movie create sectarianism and conflict in society?”, asked the court.
In addition to refusing to stay the film ‘The Kerala Story’, the Kerala High Court also rejected any action against the CBFC for giving a clean chit to the film. The producers, however, have agreed to withdraw from social media, the clip in the trailer that claims that 32000 Kerala women have been forced into joining the ISIS.
For those who don’t know, Hindi film ‘The Kerala Story is currently in the eye of a storm. The film has generated heated debates on social media, with political parties, prominent politicians and the people at large divided over its controversial narrative. Most people who are protesting against ‘The Kerala Story’ have found issue with its claim that 32,000 women and girls in Kerala have been pushed into joining terrorist organisation ISIS.
The Kerala Story is directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. It stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in lead roles. The Kerala Story is currently playing in theatres across India.
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