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By India Today News Desk: After the war on social media and in courts, the battle over The Kerala Story has now moved to the states. A day after the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal banned the movie from being shown in theatres, Uttar Pradesh is set to make it tax-free.
The tax-free status by any state government is more of an endorsement of a movie.
Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are latest joinees to the list of states where either the government or stakeholders have taken sides on The Kerala Story debate. But before this, the controversy and the debate played out on social media and in courtrooms.
THE KERALA STORY AND COURTROOM DRAMA
The Kerala Story has fetched close to Rs 50 crore at the box office in the last four days since its release.
But it wasn’t a smooth journey for the Sudipto Sen directorial and Adah Sharma-starrer as the makers had to fight a court battle to get the film a theatrical release. The movie also faced backlash from netizens, who claimed the film is “dangerous for the world”.
It controversy started immediately after the teaser of the movie was released in November 2022.
On May 5, the day of release of the film, the Kerala High Court declined to stay screening of the film after the makers of the movie assured the court that they woudln’t exhibit the controversial teaser with ‘32,000 women converted’ on social media. The teaser said 32,000 women from Kerala had been converted to Islam and recruited by terror group IS.
Amid the court and online battles, actor Adah Sharma expressed her happiness after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about the film while addressing a rally in Ballari ahead of Karnataka Assembly elections.
Though, The Kerala Story has been endorsed by BJP leaders, the film is facing pushback from non-BJP states.
Even after court observed that the trailer didn’t contain anything offensive against a community, multiplex owners and politicians stood divided on the verdict. The battle is raging on.
PULLED OUT OF MULTIPLEXES IN KERALA, TAMIL NADU
The Kerala Story has failed to garner support in the state whose story it narrates. Multiplexes like PVR Cinepolis stopped screening of the movie.
Ahead of the film’s release, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued a statement slamming the movie. He called the film “propaganda of the Sangh Parivar”. He also said that the film was a product of “Sangh Parivar’s lie factory”.
The film reportedly failed to fetch big collection at the box office in Kerala, an online news portal reported that the film got atleast 30 theatrical releases in the state.
Tamil Nadu multiplex owners also pulled out the film from theatres on Sunday. The theatre owners cited law and order situation and poor response from audience in the state for their decision to halt screening of the movie.
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief Seeman along with party leaders staged a protest in Chennai against the release of the film in the state. He earlier announced the protests claiming that the film was against the Muslim community. The Naam Tamilar Katchi is an ally of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu.
WEST BENGAL BECOMES FIRST STATE TO BAN MOVIE
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered a ban on the screening of The Kerala Story in the state to avoid “incidents of hatred and violence”.
The makers of the movie on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against the ban and sought resumption of its screeding in West Bengal.
The West Bengal CM’s announcement of banning The Kerala Story came after her allegation that “the BJP was funding a film on Bengal on the lines of The Kashmir Files”. She further directed the Bengal chief secretary to ensure The Kerala Story was removed from theatres in the state.
TAX-FREE IN UTTAR PRADESH & MADHYA PRADESH
A day after the release of The kerala Story, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted that the film would be tax-free in the state. The move came after some BJP leaders and Hindu outfits demanded the Shivraj Shingh Chouhan to make the film tax-free. “The Kerala Story is a film that has exposed the horrific truth of terrorism. It has been decided to make the film tax-free in Madhya Pradesh,” the Madhya Pradesh CM tweeted on May 6.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday tweeted that the film will be made tax-free in the state. Yogi Adityanath was also likely to watch the movie with his cabinet colleagues at a special screening.
Besides Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand is planning to make The Kerala Story tax-free. According to sources, Chief Minster Pushkar Singh Dhami will be making an announcement soon. The Uttarakahand CM, along with some ministers, is also expected to watch the film in Dehradun.
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