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Bollywood movie The Kerala Story, starring Adah Sharma in the lead, has been garnering a lot of attention since the release of its trailer. While some claim to be eagerly anticipating seeing the movie in theatres, others have labelled it contentious and propaganda. Directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the film will also feature Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani and Siddhi Idnani.

What Is The Kerala Story About?

The Kerala Story will highlight the events that led to 32,000 women gone missing in Kerala and their plight after being brainwashed and radicalized to an extent where they are used as pawns for carrying out terror attacks.

Controversy Surrounding The Kerala Story:

Soon after the trailer was released online, several political leaders objected to the movie, thereby asking for it to be banned. Recently, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor claimed, "It may be *your* Kerala story. It is not *our* Kerala story."

Tharoor tweeted, "Let me stress, I am not calling for a ban on the film. Freedom of expression does not cease to be valuable just because it can be misused. But Keralites have every right to say loud & clear that this is a misrepresentation of our reality."

ALSO READ: 'Our Story Is About Life And Death' | Adah Sharma Has This To Say About 'The Kerala Story' Being Termed 'Propaganda', Watch

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post on April 30 that The Kerala Story was made to 'spread lies'. The CM stated, "A glance at the trailer gives the impression that the movie was deliberately produced with the aim of communal polarisation and spreading hate propaganda against Kerala." "By placing Kerala, the land of secularism, as the centre of religious extremism, it is repeating the Sangh Parivar’s propaganda. Propaganda films and the othering of Muslims should be viewed in the context of various efforts made by the Sangh Parivar to gain an advantage in electoral politics in Kerala," he further noted.

American Kannada-language film actor Chethan Kumar Ahimsa said, "Controversial film ‘The Kerala Story’ will hit screens on May 5 While I have refused to act in movies that demonise community/gender in past, I don’t believe a state shud ban a cinema—that has received censor board permission—on ideological grounds Freedom of expression is must."

Kerala culture and youth affairs minister Saji Cheriyan wrote on Facebook, "Kerala is a state which is known for communal harmony. This movie could be seen as an attempt by the Sangh Parivar to destroy the secular fabric of the state. This is a conspiracy to divide and create unrest in society."

Kerala Story Trailer:

Adah shared the trailer and captioned it, "The Truth Shall set us free! Thousands of Innocent women have been systematically converted, radicalized & their lives destroyed. It's their side of the story. #TheKeralaStoryTrailer Out Now! #TheKeralaStory in cinemas on 5th May. It is time to #SaveOurDaughters."

The movie follows the story of 32,000 women who went missing in Kerala and their plight after being brainwashed and radicalized to an extent where they are used as pawns for carrying out terror attacks.

Adah Sharma Backs The Kerala Story

Adah Sharma recently defended her upcoming movie, The Kerala Story. She took to her Twitter handle and shared a video. In the clip, Adah said, "Our film is not anti any religion. But it certainly is an anti-terror organisation. Our film is about girls getting drugged, brainwashed, raped, human-trafficking, forcefully impregnated and then raped again, sometimes by multiple people. And the child they deliver is being taken away from them and then being made suicide bombers."

She further noted, "So when you call it a political agenda or propaganda, that is just diverting the topic and trivializing this issue. Our film is about life and death. So I hope we can spread awareness to girls of all religions, sects, castes. And for the few who are still saying it’s propaganda, I guess once they watch the film, it’s releasing on May 5. With all the facts when they watch it, I think they will change their mind."

Opening up about The Kerala Story, Vipul Shah had said, "The film is an amalgamation of years of research and true stories which have never been dared to be told before, it will uncover many hidden truths that have been hidden for long. It will uncover the dangerous threat radicalisation poses to the women of our nation and will create awareness about this conspiracy being hatched against India. The film aims to become the voice of tens of thousands of women across the globe who have been indoctrinated and exploited for terrorism and other crimes."

Will The Kerala Story Be Banned?

Amid all the controversies, The Kerala Story may be banned in India by the Censor Board. Though the movie is based on Kerala, the state government has denied to support the movie. Now, the decision to ban the movie lies with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).