Kerala Story producer and creative director Vipul Amrutlal Shah has responded to the backlash his film has been receiving since its release. He recently stated that the film is “not against Muslims or Islam”, but against terrorists. Directed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story hit theaters on May 5 and there have been calls to ban the film in a few states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. (Read also: Anurag Kashyap tweets after Mamata Banerjee bans The Kerala Story in West Bengal: ‘It’s just wrong’)
Anda Sharma in a snapshot of Kerala History.
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The Hindi film stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in lead roles. It has been declared duty free in Madhya Pradesh. At the checkout, cross it ₹50 crore mark on its fifth day of release, winning ₹11.14 crore on Tuesday. Has won ₹56.86 crore at the domestic box office so far. Kerala Story will release internationally on May 12.
In an interview with Rediff, Vipul emphasized that The Kerala Story “is not against Muslims or Islam, it is against terrorists”. He also added, “This film is not against a particular religion or caste. What was more satisfying is that some people posted angry, nasty and abusive messages against the film. Three of them publicly apologized on the same platform after watching the film, calling it a fantastic movie. That’s a very big vindication or validation of what we were saying. I’m sure that in time, as the temperatures drop, people will understand that this movie is not against anybody, it’s against terrorism. And we appeal to all who are against terrorism to join our fight.”
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The director also referred to the timing of the film’s release, stating that elections were held in India every three months. He added that he didn’t want to be deterred from making the film and telling the stories of those affected. Vipul also shared that the testimonies from the families of the victims are shown at the end of the film
Vipul, who is married to actor Shefali Shah, last directed the Disney+ web series Hotstar Human starring his wife. He has also directed films like Aankhen, Waqt: The Race Against Time, Namastey London, London Dreams, Action Replayy and Namaste England. He is also the producer of Force 4 directed by Abhinay Deo.
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