Movie Review : The Kerala Story

Movie Review: The Kerala Story

The Kerala Story: A critical problem lost due to poor writing and direction

The Kerala Story Controversy

Director of the Movie

Sudipto Sen is the director of the movie “The Kerala Story.”

The cast of the Movie

In the film “The Kerala Files,” Adah Sharma plays the lead.

Release Date

May 5, 2023

The Kerala Story & The Controversies

The Kerala Story sparked controversy even before it hit theaters. Controversies are frequently a good thing because they can help in a new movie’s promotion by sparking viewers’ interest. But in this case, a supposed lie was the subject of the debate.

According to the Kerala Story’s creators, 32000 women converted to Islam. They quickly vowed to change it and stop using it on social media, but when controversy over the number broke out.

Related Read | Tamil Nadu is extremely on guard before the premiere of “The Kerala Story.”

The Kerala Story takes the art out of the film

Truth is not always objective and can be distorted, to start with. We all engage in a great deal of creative license in many different areas of life. But when people make up lies about the real world to advance their agenda, that’s when they become extremists.

It resembles what the extremists in the movie do exactly. Sadly, this is what the movie’s creators have bought into as well. The Kerala Story smells strongly of propaganda, which detracts from the film’s artistic merit and renders it unwatchable.

The plot of the Movie

It centers in Kerala and concerns the radical organizations’ conversion of young girls. The Kerala Story explicitly promotes one religion over another, and this is where the film’s flaw lies. While it is true that it does not seek to denigrate Islam as a whole, it does seek to incite the Hindus and poke fun at the issues that hurt them the most. It was a reckless movie.

Story of the Movie

The script is sappy when it comes to the actual film making. Adah Sharma’s character, Fatima Ba, also known as Shalini Unnikrishnan, is apprehended by border security personnel and detained for questioning as a “wanted terrorist.”

She hasn’t picked up a single arm, though, throughout the entire film. What makes her a dangerous terrorist if she stays in an ISIS-safe house? Moving on, she tells the entire tale of how she came to be there.

The next section consists of two parallel layers of flashbacks, one in which she has just left her home to pursue her studies and the other in which she has arrived in Syria and is being beaten by her husband. The result is constant back and forth, which slows the story down.

Review of the Movie

Extremists and ISIS terrorists are portrayed in The Kerala Story as not representative of Islam, but the film’s creators don’t logically present their ideas. They want to give the impression that extremists are knowledgeable, Western ideologies are easy prey, or girls who practice their religion are most vulnerable.

The ambient music heightens the exaggeration. Consider a situation where a girl has been converted and is being married off so she can give her unborn child a father’s name. The bride’s mother rushes to her wedding and tells the couple that she has accepted everything—including their conversion—and needs them to stay with her for two days. The background music is playing “Love jihad, love jihad, love jihad” as people around her try to convince her that’s not possible. In The Kerala Story, there is no room for nuance.

The Final Impression

The imagery is horrifying, especially the brutality displayed by the extremists. The film-making is excellent. You will feel extremely uneasy after witnessing bloodshed and bodies lying across the stunning landscape of mountains, rivers, and sand. Overall, though, the screenplay and music detract from the storytelling, leaving no lasting impression.

In terms of execution, The Kerala Story differs from The Kashmir Files. But regrettably, it has the potential to incite racial tension. Undoubtedly, it could have been made more effectively and responsibly.

Since the teaser and trailer for the movie The Kerala Story was released, it has been the subject of debate. But is the movie with Adah Sharma worth seeing? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.