'The Kerala Story' Controversy Explained In 10 Points

Directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, 'The Kerala Story' stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani and Siddhi Idnani, and is set to release on May 5.

The film centres around forced religious conversion and reportedly claims that approximately 32,000 women in Kerala were converted to Islam and many were taken to ISIS-ruled Syria when the terror group was at the peak of its power.

Following the release of the film's trailer, a petition was filed at the Supreme Court seeking a stay on its release on grounds of "worst kind of hate speech" and "audio-visual propaganda".

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain the request, with the bench saying, "There are varieties of hate speeches. This film has got certification and has been cleared by the board."

"It's not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the release of the movie, you should challenge the certification and through appropriate forum," the bench added.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the makers of the film, terming it as "propaganda" by "the Sangh parivar". 

Following criticism, the film's teaser on YouTube which initially read as "heartbreaking and gut-wrenching stories of 32,000 females in Kerala..." was toned down to "true stories of three young girls from Kerala."

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor accused the film's makers of indulging in "gross exaggeration" and "distortion" of the state's reality.

Mr Tharoor on Monday put out a tweet offering Rs 1 crore to anyone who can prove that 32,000 women in Kerala were allegedly forced to convert to Islam. 

Director of the film Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah insist that 'The Kerala Story' is based on true events. "If we look at the issue, the number of 32,000 is what we have stated and we are staying by it," Mr Shah said as quoted by news agency PTI.