The Kerala Story Tax-Free in Madhya Pradesh
The Kerala Story, a highly controversial film released on 5th May 2023. Here’s what the audience is saying and feeling!
The Kerala Story released on 5th May 2023 and has become a subject of so many controversies. The movie was declared tax-free in Madhya Pradesh. Tax exemption on this film will be from May 6th to June 5th. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan posted a video on his official Twitter handle, “The Kerala Story exposes the conspiracy of love Jihad, religious conversion and terrorism and brings out its hideous face. The film tells how the daughters get entangled in the trap of love jihad in momentary sentimentality and how they are ruined. The film also exposes the design of terrorism. This film makes us aware.”
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the movie "exposes a new form of terrorism. A terrorist conspiracy has been revealed in such a beautiful state, where people are so hardworking and talented. Meanwhile, on 6th May, BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor wrote a letter to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal demanding to make the movie tax-free in Delhi. Kangana Ranaut said that the film The Kerala Story is not showing anyone but ISIS in a bad light. Kangana added, “Agar aap aisa samjhte hai ki woh terrorist organisation nahi hai toh zahir si baat hai phir aap bhi terrorist hi hai.
In a lengthy note on Twitter, Vivek Agnihotri congratulated the team for the film’s success. However in the tweet he warned the cast and crew of the film stating, “At the same time, let me also give you the bad news that from here on, your lives will not be the same. You will receive unimaginable hate. You will feel suffocated. Many times you may get confused and demoralized. But remember, God tests the shoulders on which he can put the responsibility of becoming the change agents.” Reacting to Vivek’s note, Adah replied, “Thank you sir for your enlightening words”.
Vivek has claimed that he has been totally boycotted in Bollywood and in April his book ‘ Urban Naxals’ signing event in West Bengal was shifted to some other venue. He was reportedly informed that since the original venue was in a ‘Muslim area’ it has to be shifted. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor accused the makers of indulging in "gross exaggeration" and "distortion" of the state's reality.
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) in Tamil Nadu headed by its organiser, actor and director Seeman staged a protest against the release of ‘The Kerala Story’ in Chennai. Seeman said that if the movie is screened in cinemas despite the protests, they would break the screens and theatres. Seeman also appealed to the theatre owners not to run the film ‘The Kerala Story’ and urged people not to watch the movie.-- He claimed that if the movie is not banned, the NTK cadres would buy the tickets for the movie and start protesting inside the theatre.
The ruling government in Kerala has argued that the film humiliates the southern state and will spread communal hatred. It is a false portrayal of Kerala and there is an ulterior motive behind it. However, there are several states that have stopped full-fledged screenings of the movie. Tamil Nadu has also stopped the screening of the controversial film, due to poor response and threats.
The film was only shown in a few multiplexes owned by pan-India groups, mostly PVR. Locally-owned multiplexes had already decided not to show the film, as it did not have any popular stars. In Coimbatore for instance, there were two shows so far -- one on 6th May and one on 7th May. Even those did not do well. Later the theaters decided that it was not worth going through the threat of protests and such and then stopped the screening.
Meanwhile in Kerala, 22 different screens across the State are screening the film.The film saw a decent collection on the opening days as it earned Rs 8 crore and Rs 12 crore on the second day. The total collection so far is Rs 20 crore. Meanwhile, on 5th May 2023, the Kerala High Court refused to stay the release of the controversial multi-lingual film 'The Kerala Story' and said the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole.
