• By Sukanya Saha
  • Sat, 06 May 2023 09:21 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Director Sudipto Sen's movie The Kerala Story faced criticism for its supposed factual inaccuracies, but despite this, the film was released in cinemas on Friday. Although it received negative reviews, it seems to have caught the attention of viewers as it opened well at the box office.

The Kerala Story Box Office Collection

The early estimates by industry tracker Sacnilk revealed that The Kerala Story made Rs 7.5 crore on Friday, with Rs 4 crore coming from the three National chains- PVR, INOX, and Cinepolis. The film's positive audience response has prompted theatre owners to add more shows, and the collection at ticket counters is expected to grow over the weekend.

The Kerala Story, featuring Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, and Sonia Balani, was initially advertised as a narrative about over 32,000 Kerala women who had purportedly been influenced by Islamic extremists. But, as criticism began to pour in online about the false information propagated by the film, the figure was reduced to three.

The box office collection of The Kerala Story has placed it among the top five films that have had a good opening in 2023. The highest-grossing film on the list is Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, which earned Rs 55 crore. The other films on the list include Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan with Rs 15.81 crore, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar with Rs 15.7 crore, and Bholaa with Rs 11.2 crore.

The Kerala Story had a better opening day collection than Akshay Kumar’s Selfiee (Rs 2.55 crore), Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada (Rs 6 crore), and The Kashmir Files (Rs 3.5 crore), which was also a controversial film.

The Kerala Story grabbed headlines when, during a rally held in Ballari, Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the movie and said that the film is creating a buzz nowadays as it reveals terror conspiracies in the state.

He said, "The movie The Kerala story is trying to expose the consequences of terrorism in a society, especially in a state like Kerala which is beautiful land of hardworking, talented and intellectual people. The Congress party is now trying to ban the film and support the terror elements. It only knows to ban things and completely ignore development. The party even has a problem with me chanting 'Jai Bajarang Bali.'

"Terrorism has taken a new form now. Apart from using weapons and bombs, they are working towards making the society hollow from inside out. The Kerala Story movie has exposed this new face of terrorism. The Congress has kneeled down before the terror outfits when in power. We have suffered because of the violence for very long and the Congress never protected this country from terrorism. Can the Congress protect Karnataka?"

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