Multiplexes in Tamil Nadu, including those in Chennai, decided on Sunday to stop screening The Kerala Story, which claims to narrate how young Kerala women are falling victims to a conspiracy to convert them to Islam and enlist them in the Islamic State.
The controversial film was pulled out after protests in a few cities by Muslim political groups and other political parties, including the Naam Tamilar Katchi, since the film came out on May 5.
The State government and the police intensified security ahead of the film’s release. In Coimbatore, those protesting against the film were detained by the police recently. Some political leaders had sought a ban on the film.
The film has received ‘poor reviews’, a majority of which felt that it tried to paint factual inaccuracies as truth. Its trailer claimed, “Thousands of women have fled their homes to be buried in this desert [Iraq].”
Tiruppur M. Subramaniam, president, Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association, said, “The film has been taken out of almost all theatres. The film was screened only in the cities. Since it is a Hindi film and has no recognisable faces, it will not have patronage.”
At a protest on Saturday, Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman said there was an attempt to create a negative perception of Muslims in India.
“Every time there is an election, they release a film like this. First, there was Kashmir Files, then Burqa (a web series) and now, The Kerala Story. For the 2024 Lok Sabha election, they are preparing to release Tippu, portraying him as a man who had destroyed 8,000 Hindu temples and 27 churches and killed and 2,000 Brahmins. It will be released before the election. We will protest against it too,” he said.
He asked why the intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Defence did not stop “32,000 women” from being converted, as initially claimed in the film, and trained to indulge in terrorism. The film’s promotional material, which had claimed that 32,000 women were converted to Islam and sent to Syria, was later changed to the stories of three women.
