West Bengal bans 'The Kerala Story'; Mamata says the film aims at defaming Kerala

To avoid any incident of hatred and violence in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has on Monday (May 8) ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film, ‘The Kerala Story’.

Action will be taken against any theatre found showing the film, said a senior official.

Earlier in the day, Bengal CM Banerjee described ‘The Kerala Story ‘as a distorted movie, aimed at defaming the southern state.

Also read: The Kerala Story made tax-free in Madhya Pradesh

“To avoid any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state, the CM has directed an immediate ban on screening of ‘The Kerala Story’. Action will be taken against any cinema hall that violates the ban,” the bureaucrat told PTI.

The ‘Kerala Story’, directed by Sudipto Sen, and released on May 5, depicts how women from Kerala were converted to Islam and recruited by Islamic State terrorist group.

The review in The Federal summed up the film saying if Sen had really wanted to make a propaganda film, he could have gone about it in a slightly more intelligent manner. “Such dumbing down of the screenplay might work for the ‘Karela’ audience, but stands no chance in Kerala. No wonder Sen didn’t come down to Kerala to promote ‘his’ story of the state,” wrote the reviewer.

Also read: The Kerala Story review: A juvenile cringefest suited best for ‘Karela’ audience

(With agency inputs)