The students’ association of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has issued a statement condemning the National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) decision to crown Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story as the Best Film at the 71st National Film Awards.
On Saturday, the students’ association issued a long statement on Instagram, stating that the film is ‘majoritarian propaganda’ with a ‘hate-filled agenda’ disguised in the name of cinema.
“This decision is not simply disappointing—it is dangerous. The state has once again made its position clear: it will reward propaganda disguised as cinema if it aligns with its majoritarian, hate-filled agenda. The Kerala Story is not a film—it is a weapon. A falsified narrative aimed at vilifying the Muslim community and demonising an entire state that has historically stood for communal harmony, education, and resistance,” reads the statement, which was signed by President Geetanjali Sahu and General Secretary Barsha Dasgupta.
In their statement, the association also shed light on the importance of cinema and highlighted how a ‘government-endorsed body’ is legitimising violence instead of recognising honest art.
“It is scripting future lynchings, social exclusion, and political othering. It is telling a billion people: This hate is acceptable. This is the story we choose to reward,” the statement further reads.
“We refuse to accept that our craft—the cinema we believe in and are training to make—should be reduced to a tool of state-sponsored communalism. We refuse to accept that Islamophobia is now award-worthy. And we refuse to be silent as the industry we hope to enter is being reshaped to reward lies, bigotry, and fascist ideology. The state must understand: giving awards to propaganda does not make it true. And we, as students and citizens, will not stop calling it what it is—incitement. Violence,” the statement concluded.
Also starring Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani, The Kerala Story revolves around Shalini (Adah Sharma), a young Hindu woman from Kerala, who is brainwashed into converting to Islam and becoming a terrorist. She befriends Asifa (Sonia), an Islamic extremist, and is manipulated into abandoning her identity. Shalini’s life spirals out of control as she’s trafficked to Syria and groomed to become a suicide bomber.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that awarding National Film Awards honour to The Kerala Story was an endorsement of attempts to misuse movies to spread communal hatred, while his cultural affairs minister Saji Cheriyan declared that the award was part of the Sangh Parivar's political agenda.
