Anurag Kashyap Calls ‘The Kerala Story’ “A Propaganda Film”, Says “You Can’t Escape Politics In Today’s Day And Age”
After Kamal Haasan, Anurag Kashyap has criticised Adah Sharma-starrer ‘The Kerala Story’, calling it a “propaganda” film.
Adah Sharma’s new Hindi movie ‘The Kerala Story’, which opened to underwhelming reviews from critics, has been performing extraordinarily well at domestic box office. The new Hindi movie, also starring Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani, has been making headlines ever since the trailer of the new Hindi movie released. Everyone is giving their two cents on the Bollywood film and the latest one to weigh in on the controversy surrounding the film is ace filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.
Anurag Kashyap’s latest directorial venture ‘Kennedy’ recently premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and received a seven-minute standing ovation at the Grand Lumiere Theatre. The film premiered during the midnight screening at the Cannes 2023.
It was amongst only two films from India this year to be the official selections at the festival this year.
Anurag Kashyap recently spoke to Hindustan Times about the controversial film, ‘The Kerala Story’, after previously opposing the call for a ban on it.
Talking about ‘The Kerala Story’, Anurag Kashyap said, “Frankly you can’t escape politics in today’s day and age. It’s very hard for cinema to be non-political. A lot of films that we call propaganda films like The Kerala Story are being made.”
He added, “I’m totally against banning anything but it is a propaganda film. That’s political. I don’t want to make a film that sounds like counter-propaganda. As a filmmaker, I don’t want to sound like an activist. I’m making cinema. Cinema has to be based on reality and truth and the politics of it comes from the politics of the world it is based on and the truths and facts of the world it is based on.”
When asked if he feels he can make the films that he wants to, given the socio-political climate of the country, Anurag Kashyap said, “If you are honest you can. They can’t shut down anything that’s factual and not taking sides. Counter-propaganda can also be dishonest, but honest, they can’t fight it.”
On May 9, a few days after the release of ‘The Kerala Story’, Anurag Kashyap posted a cryptic tweet saying, “You agree with the film or not, be it propaganda, counter-propaganda, offensive or not, to ban it is just wrong,” along with an image displaying a quote by Voltaire that goes: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”
Ever since the trailer of ‘The Kerala Story’ was released, the new Hindi movie has been embroiled in a controversy regarding the subject matter it is trying to portray. The trailer originally stated that the film is based on the stories of more than 32,000 Kerala women who have allegedly been radicalised by Islamic fundamentalists.
Recently, the Supreme Court also ordered the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’ to add a disclaimer stating that the new Hindi movie tells a "fictionalised" account of events and there is no official data to back the claim of 32,000 women in Kerala being forcefully converted into Islam and joining the ISIS terror group.
As per NDTV, the Supreme Court has also stayed West Bengal government's decision to ban the new Hindi movie in the state.
'The Kerala Story' has been directed by Sudipto Sen, while it is bankrolled by Vipul Amrutlal Shah.
