On Friday, after the Kerala High Court lifted the stay on the release of The Kerala Story 2, the film’s producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, called the verdict a sign that their stand was correct. The film deals with the issue of forced religious conversions. Petitions had been filed in the HC to stop its release, claiming it depicts the state in a bad light and creates communal disharmony.
The Kerala Story 2 cleared for release
On Thursday, a single-judge bench had stayed the film’s release. The Kerala Story 2 was set to release on Friday. On Friday evening, a division bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan stayed a single judge’s order that had put the film’s screening on hold for 15 days. The bench passed the interim order on an appeal moved by Shah late Thursday night, shortly after the stay on the movie’s release was granted.
Addressing a press conference after the verdict, Vipul Shah, who has co-written and produced the film under his banner Sunshine Pictures, reiterated that the film is not against Kerala. “Neither our film, nor I, nor my crew members are against the state of Kerala, it’s God’s own country. It’s a beautiful and wonderful state, but if something wrong is happening over there, then I’m just bringing it to people’s notice. Once you watch the film, you will see that we’ve not said anything negative about Kerala or the people of Kerala,” he said.
Shah alleged that there’s a “lobby” actively targeting them. “They (lobby) fought a lot with us even during part one; this time, too, they have the same approach. On Twitter, people from all over India speak in favour of the film, but the opposition is only from Kerala; more than 80 per cent of the opposition comes from Kerala,” the filmmaker claimed.
About The Kerala Story films
The first film, The Kerala Story, also faced calls for a ban and legal cases, but went on to be a critical and commercial success, grossing over ₹300 crore, and winning two National Film Awards.
The sequel, directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, stars Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia and Aishwarya Ojha. It was set to release on Friday, and the morning shows for the movie were cancelled due to the court order, but the shows and bookings have been reopened.