By India Today World Desk: The Kerala Story, a national blockbuster caught up in controversies, was released in more than 200 screens in the United States and Canada on Friday.
The movie’s director Sudipto Sen said that the movie is a mission which is beyond the creative boundaries of cinema.
“The country was in denial of the long existing issue in the state of Kerala. The Kerala Story is a mission which is beyond the creative boundaries of cinema, a movement that should reach the masses all over the world and raise awareness,” Sen told a group of Indian American reporters during a virtual news conference.
“The film’s subject was hidden from the masses and deserved to be told. We made the film in order to initiate deliberation worldwide,” said the producer of the film, Vipul Shah.
The film is based on three girls who were converted to Islam and ended up joining the ISIS.
“This is a very bold, honest and true film which in the beginning got no support, today stands at the point of releasing worldwide with a spectacular box office success in just 6 days,” Shah said in response to a question at the virtual news conference organised by its Impact Advisor Priya Sawant and community leader Vijay Pallod.
The film, which has been vociferously championed by the Hindu right, including the BJP, has been boycotted by cinemas across Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and has been criticised by many for originally claiming in a teaser that 32,000 girls from Kerala fled the state to join ISIS, reported news agency PTI.
The film’s makers were earlier ordered by the Kerala High Court to remove the teaser from its publicity campaign, including social media posts. The film has been banned by the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee.
The film stars Adah Sharma in leading role.
