'The Kerala Story’: SC To Hear Appeal Against Kerala HC Order Refusing To Stay Film's Release

The Kerala High Court last week refused to stay the release of the film and said the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal against the interim order of the Kerala High Court refusing to stay the release of the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story.’ The top court listed the matter for hearing on May 15. Directed by Sudipto Sen, ‘The Kerala Story’ depicts how Hindu women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS). The film, which was released on May 5, kicked up a political storm ever since its first official trailer was released.

Supreme Court agrees to list on May 15 an appeal against the interim order of the Kerala High Court refusing to stay the release of the film ‘The Kerala Story’. pic.twitter.com/StUYIdlvPn — ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2023

Last week, the Kerala High Court refused to stay the release of the film and said the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole.

‘Kerala Story’ Declared Tax-Free In UP, MP

The Uttar Pradesh government has declared "The Kerala Story" to be tax-free in the state. The announcement was made by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "'The Kerala Story' to be made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh," Adityanath said on his official Twitter handle.

According to Director Information Shishir, the UP chief minister will attend a special screening of the film in Lucknow on Friday. "'The Kerala Story' will be made tax-free in UP. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will watch the special screening of the movie with his cabinet on May 12 in Lucknow," he said.

The announcement came days after the Madhya Pradesh government said it will give tax-free status to the film in the state.

UP BJP secretary Abhijat Mishra on Saturday organised the screening of the controversial film for about 100 college girls in the city. The BJP leader booked a theatre and said the movie should be shown to young women to prevent them from 'love jihad'.

'Love jihad' is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage. Mishra said the movie is based on true events and shows how gullible girls are manipulated and then converted.

On the day of the film's release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited the movie for bringing out terror conspiracies and using it to attack the Congress during an election rally in poll-bound Karnataka.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film "The Kerala Story" in the state to avoid ‘any incident of hatred and violence.’Multiplexes across Tamil Nadu have cancelled screenings of the controversial film from Sunday, citing law and order issues and poor public response.

Religious Conversion, Radicalisation In Kerala

"The Kerala Story", starring Adah Sharma, was released in cinemas on Friday and was initially portrayed as "unearthing" the events behind "approximately 32,000 women" allegedly missing from Kerala. It is directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah's Sunshine Pictures.

According to the CPI(M) and the Congress in Kerala, the film falsely claims that 32,000 women got converted and radicalised and were deployed in terror missions in India and the world. The filmmakers later changed the figure in the film's trailer.