‘The Kerala Story’: Tamil Nadu multiplex owners halt screenings; here’s why

Adah Sharma starrer ‘The Kerala Story’ has been embroiled in controversies for a long time with many calling it a ‘propaganda movie’. The Sudipto Sen directorial which had been released in selected theatres in Tamil Nadu has now been pulled down. President of Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association, M Subramaniam, confirmed the news that the few multiplexes that had shown the film had decided to withdraw it.

Speaking with news agency PTI, Subramanian said, ‘The film was only shown in a few multiplexes owned by pan-India groups, mostly PVR. Locally-owned multiplexes had already decided not to show the film, as it did not have any popular stars. In Coimbatore for instance, there were two shows so far -- one on Friday and one on Saturday. Even those did not do well. Given that, theatres decided that it was not worth going through the threat of protests and such.’

Film trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai, who had earlier said that he was planning to watch the film on Sunday, tweeted on Sunday, ‘#Multiplexes stop screening of the controversial #TheKeralaStory from today (Sunday) all over #TamilNadu! They have cited “potential law and order issues and lack of reception from general public as reasons for the move!’

‘The Kerala Story’ also stars Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in the lead roles.

The movie came under fire as it claimed that 32,000 girls from Kerala went missing and later joined the terrorist group, ISIS. However, the number was changed to three. On Friday, The Kerala High Court noted that the producers published a disclaimer along with the movie which states that the film has fictionalised and dramatised version of events and that it doesn't claim accuracy.

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