6th May 2023, Mumbai: The Kerala Story opened in theatres on Friday amidst a political brawl over the movie’s contentious subject matter. Feedback on Featuring Adah Sharma has been mixed, both positively and negatively. On the internet, some individuals have referred to the movie as right-wing propaganda, while others have praised the director for “disclosing the reality.”
Sudipto Sen’s movie, according to media reports, made about 6.50 crore on its first day of release. Official statistics, however, have not yet been made public.
This year’s movie made a little bit more money on Day 1 than The Kashmir Files did last year. The Kashmir Files made 3.55 crore on its opening day. In 2022, The Kashmir Files, starring Anupam Kher, experienced the same political scuffle as the current Adah Sharma-starring movie. Both films are centred on subjects that are regarded as politically delicate.
K Surendran, the president of the BJP in Kerala, said that some theatres in the coastal state purposefully delayed the movie’s premiere. He said that the Left party and Congress had threatened the proprietors of the theatres if the movie had not been released in the state.
According to Kerala’s ruling CPI(M) and opposition Congress, the movie makes inaccurate claims about 32,000 women who were radicalised, converted, and used in terrorist operations both in India and abroad.
The Supreme Court told anybody attempting to file a writ petition against The Kerala Story prior to the movie’s premiere to knock on the doors of the state’s high court.
The Kerala High Court, however, declined to block the release yesterday, stating that the trailer does not specifically target any one sect.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), according to the court, has watched the film and determined that it is appropriate for public viewing.
The Kerala High Court also took note of the disclaimer that the film’s creators issued with it, expressly stating that the movie is a dramatised representation of true events and does not purport to be historically accurate.