The Kerala Story 2 — Goes Beyond does not portray Kerala or its people in a negative light, the film’s producer Vipul Shah said on Friday, hours after the Kerala High Court paved the way for the film’s release. He also alleged that a lobby has been targeting the film.
A division bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P.V. Balakrishnan stayed a single judge’s order that had put the film’s screening on hold for 15 days.
The bench passed the interim order on an appeal moved by Shah late Thursday night, shortly after the stay on the movie’s release was granted.
Addressing a press conference after the high court order, Shah, who has co-written and produced the film under his banner Sunshine Pictures, said the project had been made with “a lot of hard work and honesty”.
“Neither our film, nor me, my crew members are against the state of Kerala, its God’s own country. It’s a beautiful and wonderful (state), but if something wrong is happening over there, then I’m just bringing it out to people’s notice. Once you watch the film, you will see that we’ve not said anything negative about Kerala or the people of Kerala,” Shah told reporters.
According to Shah, the movie on religious conversion exposes a “few criminals who are from Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan”.
“Hence the movie is titled The Kerala Story 2 — Goes Beyond. We are not trying to defame or are showing Kerala and people of Kerala in a negative light,” Shah told reporters.
The trailer of the film, directed by Kamakhya Narain Singh, was released earlier this month and sparked controversy. The film follows the stories of three Hindu women from different states who go against their families to marry Muslim men and are then allegedly forced to convert.
It was slated for release on Friday. Morning shows were cancelled following the court’s initial order, but bookings reopened after the division bench stayed the earlier directive.
Responding to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who criticised The Kerala Story 2 and described it as a propaganda film aimed at dividing people, Shah questioned Kashyap’s credibility.
“I don’t want to make any personal comments on Anurag Kashyap. It is his opinion. My director had made a valid point about Anurag, who has made The Girl in Yellow Boots, where an inappropriate relationship between a father and his daughter was portrayed,” Shah said.
“So, can his opinions be taken seriously on a topic like this? This is the question my director Kamakya had raised. I was hoping that he would give a reply but he hasn't. We are hoping he will say something in the next few days,” the producer added.
Shah also alleged that there is a “lobby” targeting the film. “They fought a lot with us even during part one, this time too they have the same approach. On Twitter, people from all over India speak in favour of the film but the opposition is only from Kerala, more than 80 per cent of the opposition comes from Kerala”.
Released in 2023, The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, won the National Film Award for best direction for Sen and best cinematography.
The sequel stars Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia and Aishwarya Ojha.