‘The Kerala Story’ crew member in Mumbai gets threat call, receives police protection

A crew member of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ living in Mumbai got a threatening message from an unknown number, said the police. He has been provided security by the police, however, no FIR has been registered yet. The film’s director Sudipto Sen informed the police about the threat call to the crew member.  

“Sudipto Sen, director of the film 'The Kerala Story' informed police that one of the crew members received a message from an unknown number 'not to step out alone from home & that they didn't do a good thing by showing the story'. Police provided security to the crew member but FIR was not registered till now as they are yet to receive a written complaint,” said the Police.

TMC government bans ‘The Kerala Story’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on May 8 announced the film ‘The Kerala Story’ will not be screened in the state and banned the movie citing "maintenance of peace" and to avoid incidents of "hatred and violence." Bengal became the first state to put a ban on the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ which narrates the ordeal of three women who are trafficked to ISIS camps after being converted to Islam through marriage. There's a continuing political outcry around the movie even as it has been made tax-free in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

Mamata Banerjee explaining the reason for the move to ban the movie said, "It is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence and maintain peace in the state," she further ordered the Chief Secretary to implement the decision and remove the movie from all theatres where it is being screened. 

Makers of the movie to pursue legal option

The producer of the movie Vipul Amritlal Shah said a legal recourse will be taken against the West Bengal decision to ban ‘The Kerala Story’. "If state government won't listen to us, we will explore legal avenues. However, whatever course we take will be based on legal advice," Shah told ANI. ‘The Kerala Story’ evoked a sharp response by the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who called it "RSS propaganda".'The Kerala Story' stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in lead roles.

The movie created a storm as the trailer of the movie was out, which showed over 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS. However, as the movie faced backlash, the contentious figure in the trailer was later pulled out. Its trailer description was also changed to a 'story of three women from Kerala.'