Dr. Sushil Rudra
The controversial Bollywood movie ” The Kerala Story” is now a hit film which is running in not only in India, but in various foreign countries. Although it was banned in West Bengal. The supreme Court of India asked to government of WB to resume it.
The Kerala Story is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language drama film. Sudipto Sen is director and Vipul Amrutlal Shah produced it.[1] It stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani.
The Plot : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The plot follows the story of a group of women from Kerala who are converted to Islam and join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
However, the film is premised on the conspiracy theory of “love jihad”,[5] and falsely claims that thousands of women from Kerala are being converted to Islam and recruited into ISIS.[6][7]
The Kerala Story : https://youtu.be/3Jk3vquJDGs
Directed by
Sudipto Sen
Written by
Suryapal Singh
Sudipto Sen
Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Produced by
Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Starring
Adah Sharma
Yogita Bihani
Sonia Balani
Siddhi Idnani
Cinematography
Prasantanu Mohapatra
Edited by
Sanjay Sharma
Music by
Viresh Sreevalsa
Bishakh Jyoti
Production
company
Sunshine Pictures[1]
Release date
5 May 2023
Running time
138 minutes[2]
Country
India
Language
Hindi
Budget
est. ₹15–20 crore (US $1.8–2.4 million)[3]
Box office
Est. ₹81.36 crore (US$10 million)[4]
Critical reception from reviewers has been negative,[8][9] and included descriptions of the film being propaganda.[10] Bharatiya Janata Party promoted and endorsed the film which has attempted to use it in its campaigning for the Karnataka assembly election and claims that it is truthful.
It has faced push-back with refusals by theatres for screening, several legal cases and protests, primarily in the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Besides, the Indian National Congress, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have also accused the filmmakers of defaming the state of Kerala and promoting the agenda of the Sangh Parivar.
It was theatrically released on 5 May 2023,[11] and has grossed over ₹81.36 crore (US$10 million) becoming the fifth-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023.
Plot
Shalini Unnikrishnan, a woman who converted to Islam, shares her harrowing journey of aspiring to become a nurse, only to be abducted from her home and coerced by extremist groups. She was eventually manipulated into joining ISIS and ended up imprisoned in Afghanistan.
Production and release : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The film was produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who is also the creative director of the film.[1] It was released in theatres on 5 May 2023.[13]
Music
Premise and factual accuracy : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The Kerala Story is captioned as being based on a real-life incident, while the reliability of the statistics shown are not backed by any real evidence.[7][6][14] The makers of the film have claimed that the film is the true story of an instance of “love jihad”,[5] which a Hindutva conspiracy theory about non-Muslim women romanced and lured into marriage to convert them to Islam.[18]
The teaser, released on 3 November 2022,[19] featured Adah Sharma playing the character of Fathima Ba — a Hindu Malayali nurse — who had converted to Islam and joined the ISIS, before ending up in an Afghan jail.[14]
She identifies to be one of the 32,000 girls, from the Hindu and Christian communities, who are missing from Kerala and have been recruited to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after being converted to Islam.
The claimed figures are widely inaccurate, being based on mistranslations, misquotes and extrapolations from misrepresentations of unrelated statistics.[6]
The “32,000” figure was later pulled from marketing materials and revised to state that it showed the story of “3 women”, with Sen stating that “32,000 is an arbitrary figure [and] doesn’t matter”, but it remained in the film and was further increased to a figure of 50,000.[20][21]
The figures presented are greater than the maximum strength of the entirety of ISIS.[22] The Observer Research Foundation in a 2019 report notes that about 60 to 70 individuals had joined ISIS from Kerala between 2014 and 2018.[23]
According to Indian government figures no more than a total of 100 – 200 Indians had joined the organization over the years, one of the smallest figures of any country with a substantial Muslim population.
The US Department of State in its 2020 report on terrorism had documented that there were a total of 66 individuals from India who were affiliated with ISIS.[6]
The events portrayed in the film were reportedly inspired by the accounts of four women from Kerala who converted to Islam and traveled with their husbands to Afghanistan to join ISIS between 2016 and 2018 who were interviewed by a news website in 2019.[7][24]
They were part of a 21-member group from Kerala to join ISIS in 2016, who remain incarcerated in Afghanistan since surrendering in 2019.[25]
Ruling party promotion : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its associated organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have supported the film.
The party has attempted to use it for their political campaign in the Karnataka assembly election occurring concurrently to the release of the film.[26]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed the film at an election rally, claimed that it unearthed a “conspiracy” and that the Indian National Congress stands for “terror tendencies” because of its opposition.[26][27]
In Bangalore, the BJP President J. P. Nadda and Member of Partliament Tejasvi Surya held special screenings of the film and invited “young girl students” to watch it with them.[26]
RSS leaders have also backed the film,[26] and it has been described as “a dangerous truth” by Organiser, a magazine belonging to the RSS and operated as its mouthpiece.[22]
Following Modi’s endorsement, the film was made tax free in Madhya Pradesh by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who stated that it exposes “love jihad” and that “daughters and sons should watch the film”.[28]
It was also declared tax free in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Both the states have BJP governments.[20]
Response : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The film was met with protests in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.[27][20] The film had a limited release in Kerala with the expectation that the theatres running it will attract good collections but audience figures were very poor leading to multiplexes in Kerala such as PVR and Cinepolis withdrawing screenings.[20]
It also faired poorly in Tamil Nadu where the Tamil Nadu Multiplex Association announced 7 May, that it will stop further screenings because of the protests and the poor audience.[9]
Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan made a statement saying that “[p]ropaganda films and their otherisation of Muslims should be viewed in the context of various efforts by the Sangh Parivar to gain an advantage in electoral politics in Kerala. Their usual tactics do not work in Kerala, so they are trying to spread their politics of division through the film based on fake stories”.[26]
Both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress, the two major parties in Kerala since Independence, have objected to the film for communal misinformation and accused the filmmakers of promoting the agenda of the Sangh Parivar to defame Kerala and propagate the love jihad conspiracy theory.[14][29][30]
In Tamil Nadu, the protests were held by Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) as well as Muslim political organizations and other political parties in some cities. NTK leader Seeman criticized the film and stated that it was part of a trend of films stoking Islamophobia during elections.[9]
The Kerala Story: Darkness & Light : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
A converted Muslim woman Fatima Ba narrates her ordeal of how she once wanted to become a nurse but was abducted from her home and manipulated by religious vanguards, turned into an ISIS terrorist and landed in Afghanistan jail.
Fatima Ba (previously Shalini Unnikrishnan), an ex-Hindu woman from Kerala narrates her story of being converted and induced to become a suicide bomber working for ISIS.
The narrative chronicles the story of two more Non-Muslim nursing students from Kerala who are used as the perpetrators of communal “jihad.”
The film explores the toolkit of luring innocent youth (especially women) into committing acts of terrorism by systematic brainwashing, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and illegal trafficking across borders and also the inherent problem with exclusionist religious fanatics of Islam
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 .
Next 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.
01/8. https://youtu.be/YFH4IiX5TTk
The Kerala Story’ ban in West Bengal: What we know so far
‘The Kerala Story’ has left the country divided. The controversial film that shows women from the state joining ISIS has led to a political fight over the last few days. While some have lent their support to the movie amid its stellar Box Office run, others such as the West Bengal government have banned it.
In fact, Bengal became the first state in the country to withdraw ‘The Kerala Story’ from theatres leading to the ongoing debate surrounding politics over a movie. Here’s a quick rundown of what we know so far.
Vipul Shah reacts to death threats and ‘The Kerala Story’ ban
02/8
The ban came as a big surprise : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
On May 8, Mamata Banerjee’s government imposed a ban on The Kerala Story across Bengal, arguing that it might create unrest. Bengal became the first state to ban the film.
The West Bengal government’s order to withdraw the movie stated, “To avoid any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state, the chief minister has directed an immediate ban on screening of The Kerala Story. Action will be taken against any cinema hall that violates the ban.”
Mamata Banerjee also alleged that ‘The Kerala Story’ is a distorted movie aimed at defaming the south.
The sudden ban came as a big surprise not only for the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’ but also for people who were planning to watch it or already have seen it. The controversial film was running across 94 halls across Bengal, some to packed houses even.
According to reports, the theatre owners also have said that there had been no trouble or hint of unrest so far. Since its release on May 5, ‘The Kerala Story’ reportedly minted approximately Rs 1.5 crore till May 7 all over Bengal and the numbers were quite impressive considering its box office numbers across the country.
On Sunday night, many people thronged to the theatres in Kolkata to watch the film. Industry experts believe that the controversy gave word-of-mouth publicity to the Sudipto Sen-directed film.
04/8
Why the controversy? : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
It all started when a massive controversy erupted after ‘The Kerala Story’ trailer claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and they have been forced to join the terrorist group ISIS.
However, after facing constant protests, the contentious figure in the trailer was withdrawn by the makers. The trailer description was then changed to a story of three women from Kerala. However, it didn’t stop the controversy and the film faced mixed response since its release on May 5.
05/8
Director alleges West Bengal ban ‘politically motivated’
Sudipto Sen strongly reacted to West Bengal Chief Minister’s decision to impose a ban on his film in the state. He was quoted as saying by ANI, “It is really unfortunate. Didi, without watching the film, how could she decide that it is a threat to law and order? Kolkata has gone and watched the film with wholeheartedness.
The first four days have been packed houses, my film has been announced as an unprecedented blockbuster. Kolkata has seen the film with their heart. Not a single untoward incident has happened. Nobody reported any kind of agitation in front of cinema halls.”
He further added that the film was running peacefully in and around Kolkata for four days. An emotional Sudipto even said that Bengal has blessed him because at the end of the day he’s a Bengali. The filmmaker requested the West Bengal CM to watch the film and decide if this film may pose any law and order issue.
06/8
Makers move to Supreme Court challenging the ban
Makers move to Supreme Court challenging the ban
‘The Kerala Story’ producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah had previously questioned the West Bengal ban on the film despite it being cleared for release by the Central Board of Film Certification.
Amid the controversy, The Kerala Story has made Rs 45 crore in India so far. Now, the producer has approached the Supreme Court seeking removal of ban on the film.
As per reports, Vipul Shah’s lawyer Ameet Naik is already working on filing the case. The Aarakshan verdict will be cited in this case. For those who are unaware, the country’s apex court had passed an order that stated that if CBFC clears a film for release can’t be banned by any state.
07/8.
Producers Guild back ‘The Kerala Story’
Producers Guild back ‘The Kerala Story’
The Producers Guild of India has released an official statement stating that they strongly object to the state-enforced bans on ‘The Kerala Story’.
“The Producers Guild of India is distressed by, and would like to record its strong objection to, state-enforced bans on The Kerala Story,” the statement read.
The Producers Guild also said that they have time and again insisted that film releases have to be regulated by CBFC and any film that complies with statutory requirements can’t face any further hurdles and let the public decide its fate.
08/8
Tollywood divided over the ban : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
While the West Bengal government justified the ban on ‘The Kerala Story’ saying that this film might create division in the society with a ‘distorted story’, acclaimed filmmaker Aniket Chattopadhyay has question the ban.
He asked that in this digital era and the OTT boom is it really possible to stop public from seeing a film. Aniket questions, “It will soon release on OTT? How will the Bengal government stop it then?”
Instead, he prefers to select an alternative way to counter a film, “If you want to protest ‘The Kerala Story’ then hit it hard with a counter narrative and make a film. Make films like Gandhi Files, Savarkar Files or Godhra files. That will be more justified.”
National Award-winning director Goutam Ghose who has been in the CBFC once feels that in this era of digitalization you can’t stop of a film from getting released.
If you ban the theatrical release the film will come out on OTT. “Interestingly there’s hardly any censorship on OTT. So how will you stop a film then?
I think in our country the central government and the states have so many differences in various issues. To solve this problem we need to unite and take a stand.
The unforgiving approach of showing how innocent people are brainwashed and lured into Islam and then led down the path of terrorism ruffled the feathers of many who called the film ‘Islamophobic’ and hateful.
The usual set of liberals and members of the opposition parties, especially Congress went ahead to call for the film to be banned.
The Kerala Story & The Public Opinion: The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
Despite the criticism, however, the movie, based on true events, has not only been breaking box office records but also inspiring people to promote ‘The Kerala Story’ among Hindu women on their own. It has also made people realise how they didn’t recognise the efforts to influence them earlier.
One such woman, who came out of the theatre after watching the movie told a YouTube News channel One News Hindi that she would urge every Hindu woman to watch this film so that they become aware and alert of the traps.
Sharing her own life experience, the woman said that indoctrination in the name of Islam documented in the movie is not a figment of anyone’s imagination but a real problem raging across not only India but the world. She confessed how she herself had fallen prey to this trap when she was in college.
“I was a little brainwashed as well, I was a little bit influenced towards Islam as well. After watching, I realise this same scenario happened to me as well. Parents should teach you about your culture and religion,” she told the news channel, emphasising how such movies help in better understanding of such real-time issues plaguing various parts of the country.
Snubbing those who are calling ‘The Kerala Story’ a propaganda film, she said that the movie has only shown the truth.
Another person standing next to this woman also asserted that the movie has only depicted the truth. “Calling a wrong thing wrong is not propaganda,” the youth asserted.
The woman is further heard saying that the movie makes a person realise how important it is to make your child aware of their religion and culture.
She said that the movie throws light on the larger issue which is, why vulnerable women are being so easily lured and indoctrinated in the name of Islam.
She said that the movie highlights how those women how who are not aware of their own culture and religion easily fall prey to such traps.
This moviegoer was not the only one who was impressed by how meticulously the filmmakers documented this subject, which is often ignored by the Leftists, Islamists and their apologists and their supportive media.
Several others were intrigued by how Sudipto Sen’s film The Kerala Story has brought forth the conspiracies of Islamic conversion into public discussion.
Many, who came out of the theatre after watching The Kerala Story, said that they are convinced that the movie is based on true incidents. They said that issues like Love Jihad, religious conversion, indoctrination in the name of Islam etc are all real issues that are rapidly spreading their tentacles across many parts of the country.
They said that it is imperative that every Hindu girl watches the movie so that they could save themselves from being brainwashed and lured into embracing another faith and then taking on to the path of terrorism.
At around 18-00 minutes into the video, a man who proudly sports a tilak on his forehead is heard saying that he was completely impressed by how the filmmakers have fearlessly explored a topic that is pressing and has been destroying the lives of numerous vulnerable and innocent Hindu women.
“Every person should take it upon themselves to get at least one girl to see the movie. If everyone can sponsor the ticket of any one girl child and get her to see the movie, it will not be less than the virtue of performing Kanyadaan,” he said.
Notably, earlier OpIndia reported about Sadhu Magar, a Hindu activist, who had flagged a banner on his autorickshaw that promised free services for people going to watch the film ‘The Kerala Story’. He has also mentioned on the banner that he will buy tickets for the first ten women who avail of his autorickshaw service to go to watch this film.
“I watched the trailer of ‘The Kerala Story’. I liked it very much, just like I liked ‘The Kashmir Files’. And I decided to start this offer because so many Hindu women have fallen prey to this love jihad.
I want Hindu women to be aware and alert of the traps. I wanted to make them aware of the issue. Therefore, I wanted to promote them to watch this film, and hence I came up with this offer,” he told OpIndia.
‘The Kerala Story’ : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
It is pertinent to note that the recently released movie ‘The Kerala Story’ has been declared tax-free in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. However, reports mention that the Madhya Pradesh government has withdrawn its decision to give tax-free status to the movie in the state.
How the Movie Was Revolved? : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The multilingual project, featuring Adah Sharma and written and directed by Sudipto Sen, has garnered a lot of attention since its release. Liberals and the opposition particularly the Left and the Congress have labelled it as a propaganda piece and demanded a ban on its screening.
The movie revolves around Shalini Unnikrishnan, pThe Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Successlayed by Adah Sharma, an innocent Hindu woman from Kerala, who is brainwashed by her Muslim friend and gets converted to Islam and marries a Muslim man.
The lead actress soon realises that she has been trapped in a huge terrorist web after she is raped, separated from her only child, and then forced to serve as a sex slave.
Promoting Jihadi ideology on social media, grooming youths to become terrorists।
• Big success at the box office is ‘The Kerala Story’ (The Kerala Story Banned). : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
This film is in the list of selected superhit films of this year. Already 15 days have passed since the release of ‘The Kerala Story’. However, the number of people visiting the theaters has not decreased.
Even during the week, this film has received good response from the audience. ‘The Kerala Story’ has already crossed the 150 crore mark and is on the way to 200 crores.
The Adah Sharma starrer has grossed over Rs 171 crore in the last 14 days. On the other hand, on the 15th day last Friday, the film did a business of 6 crore rupees. And this is how the film is slowly moving towards 200 crore this time.
Incidentally, the Supreme Court’s suspension of the state’s ban on ‘The Kerala Story’. It should be noted that the state government (West Bengal Govt) has strongly pushed in the Supreme Court regarding ‘The Kerala Story’.
The state government has been heavily criticized in the Supreme Court for banning the movie. There is no hindrance in the screening of ‘The Kerala Story’ in Bengal.
It may be noted that the government banned ‘The Kerala Story’ citing the fear of unrest. The government is responsible for maintaining law and order, strict monitoring of the Supreme Court.
Recently veteran artist Shubha Prasanna said, ‘Supreme Court considers everything, dismisses it. And I think it is good to lift the ban. That’s what I personally wanted. But as a little citizen, what I wanted was an administrator, maybe some apprehension. Hope that apprehension will be removed. And there will be no more doubt about it.’
On 8 May, the Government of West Bengal banned the movie from screening in the state with the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stating that it was done to prevent any incident of related to communal hatred and violence.[31]
The filmmakers challenged the decision in the Supreme Court which awaits a hearing on 12 May.[32]
Prior to the release, the film had also faced several legal cases from police officials to journalists alleging promotion of communal disharmony at the Madras High Court, Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court of India.[33]
The petitions were dismissed by the courts which stated that it was certified by the Central Board of Film Certification which was sufficient for its release.[34]
Reception
Critical reception
Abhishek Srivastava reviewing for The Times of India rated film 3 out of 5 stars, praised acting of Adah Sharma and wrote “the film feels more like a tutorial of radicalization than entertainment for the audience.
It also goes to extremes to make its point, and that could be quite unsettling for audiences” as criticism.[35] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated film 0.5 out of 5 stars and termed the film as a “lengthy WhatsApp forward in the guise of a movie which is far from reality'” they also criticised acting in the film and termed writing as “cringe”.[36]
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the film 1 star out of 5 star and wrote “The film itself is nothing but a poorly-made, poorly-acted rant which is not interested in interrogating the social complexities of Kerala”.[37]
Anuj Kumar of The Hindu criticized Sen of compiling a film that has a sole objective to turn the audience into purveyors of hate, akin to the prejudiced characters in the movie, supported by misleading information with no postulation of evidence.
He applauded Sharma’s performance and criticised that of the rest of the cast to be superficial.[38]
Sukanya Shaji of The News Minute analyzed the film in the context of the portrayal of women in Indian cinema, finding that it encouraged patriarchal sentiments and restrictions on the autonomy of women in the name of protection
Writer Sowmya Rajendran similarly panned the film as “no-nuance propaganda” that placed women as objects to be fought for between religions and ideologies by men and encouraged communal mindsets.[21]
Box office : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
On its opening day, the film grossed ₹8.03 crore in India,[40] making it the fifth highest opener in India for 2023.[41] As of 10 May, it has grossed over ₹56.86 crore (US$7.1 million), becoming the fifth-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023.[8] The film performed well in most of India but performed poorly in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.[20]
The Kashmir Files : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
The Kerala Story’: ‘The Kerala Story’ actress Adah was worried about her old grandmother’s reaction after seeing the rape scene.
Adah Sharma: Recently in an interview, actress Adah Sharma talked about her thoughts. He said that he was worried about how his 90-year-old grandmother would react after seeing several sensational scenes.
Currently enjoying success ‘The Kerala Story’ (The Kerala Story). From multiple negative comments, ban requests, decisions, controversies, nothing could stop this film starring Adah Sharma at the box office.
So now an actress in the limelight. The content of the film is also one of the hot topics now. But amidst all this, the actress was worried about how her mother and grandmother would react to some particularly sensational scenes in the film. He said in detail in an interview.
Adah Sharma thought! : The Controversial ” Kerala Story” Film Now to Massive Success
Actress Adah Sharma expressed her thoughts in an interview recently. He said, after seeing several sensational and ‘disturbing’ scenes of ‘The Kerala Story’
Actress Adah Sharma expressed her thoughts in an interview recently. She said, she was worried about how his 90-year-old grandmother would react after seeing several sensational and ‘disturbing’ scenes in ‘The Kerala Story’.
Adah Sharma said, ‘My mother and grandmother knew the story. I was worried about my grandmother’s reaction, especially to the rape scenes. I was worried about what to say after seeing all those scenes.
References
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“”There are umpteen movies depicting Hindu sanyasis as rapists”: Kerala High Court refuses to stay release of The Kerala Story”.
“Kerala High Court refuses to stay screening of ‘The Kerala Story'”. The Indian Express. 5 May 2023.
Srivastava, Abhishek (5 May 2023). “The Kerala Story Movie Review : Adah Sharma delivers a brave and poignant performance in a thought-provoking film”. The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
Chatterjee, Saibal (5 May 2023). “The Kerala Story Review: The Writing Is Consistently Cringeworthy, The Acting Is No Better”. NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
Gupta, Shubhra (5 May 2023). “The Kerala Story movie review: A poorly-made, poorly-acted rant”. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
Shaji, Sukanya (9 May 2023). “The Kerala Story’s focus on ‘keeping daughters safe’ is problematic”. The News Minute. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
Tuteja, Joginder (6 May 2023). ). “The Kerala Story box office collection Day 1: Sudipto Sen’s film gets better opening than Selfiee, Shehzada, Kashmir Files; earns Rs 8.03 cr”.
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