The Kerala Story - Story So Far

Movies and controversies go hand in hand. There are very few movies that dont face the wrath of criticism and with intolerance towards any touchy subject at an all-time high, it has become next to impossible for makers to express themselves without being scrutinized to the core.

Filmmakers have been making films on controversial topics for generations but none have sparked as much of a debate as the Sudipto Sen-directed film ‘The Kerala Story’ is generating. The Kerala Story, which stars Adah Sharma in the lead role, is a story about how 32,000 women from Kerala were abducted or brainwashed over the years into joining ISIS. The Kerala Story’s Teaser has over 7,00,000 views on Sunshine Picture’s official Youtube page and has had people from all sects of society talk about it. It was also shared by the actress Adah Sharma on her official Twitter handle with the hashtag #TrueStory which irked some people who called for the film to be banned for spreading misinformation. The other half of the society is celebrating the film by saying that it is the gripping truth about the situation in Kerala and that it needs to be seen by every Indian in this country. 

The director of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ is none other than Sudipto Sen, who has also directed films like ‘Lucknow Times’ and ‘The Last Monk’. He was embroiled in controversy back in 2021 when, in an interview with Citti Media, the director said that he came up with the figure 32,000 based on the figure that the former Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy, presented to the Kerala Assembly in 2012. He quoted Mr Oomen Chandy who said that roughly 2800 to 3200 women are abducted every year and came up with the number of 32,000 by adding the figures over 10 years. However, AltNews, a fact-checking website said that there are no records to support Sudipto Sen’s claims.

The Kerala Story is produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah's Sunshine Pictures Private Limited. He is an Indian film and television producer and director who has primarily supported narratives about police personnel, the Indian army, RAW operatives, and terrorists. To name a few, these include the Commando series with Vidyut Jammwal in the lead, the John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha film Force 2, and Akshay Kumar's Holiday: A soldier is never off duty.