“It Was About A Woman, Not...”: Shefali Shah’s Big Statement About Husband Vipul Shah’s ‘The Kerala Story’
Shefali Shah recently said that she would have been a part of 'The Kerala Story' if she was offered the film with “evidence”.
Adah Sharma’s last release ‘The Kerala Story’ was in the eye of a storm since the trailer of the Sudipto Sen directorial dropped in April 2023 with many people calling it a “propaganda” film. ‘The Kerala Story’, produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, also starred Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani. Despite being initially banned in West Bengal and having fared poorly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the new Hindi movie minted more than Rs 200 crore at the box office.
While many slammed the film for its content, ‘The Kerala Story’ received support from state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand as it was declared tax free in these states.
Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s wife and actress Shefali Shah, who has demonstrated her acting range in various projects like ‘Darlings’, ‘Doctor G’, ‘Jalsa’ and ‘Delhi Crime’, is currently gearing up for her upcoming project, ‘Three of Us’, in which she stars alongside Jaideep Ahlawat.
Shefali Shah, who got nominated for an International Emmy for her role in ‘Delhi Crime Season 2’, sat down for a conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express group, at the Express Adda on Monday. During her conversation, Shefali Shah opened up about the “hate” she received after sharing the trailer of the film ‘The Kerala Story’.
On being asked if she would have agreed to be a part of ‘The Kerala Story’, Shefali Shah said, “I don’t have anything to do with politics. I normally get a lot of love and respect on social media. I shared the trailer of it (The Kerala Story), I cannot tell you how badly I got trolled for it. Like people hated me overnight.”
The Indian actress added, “If I was offered it with evidence, why not? It is as important to be told as Delhi Crime is. But if there was no evidence and if it was imaginary, I would be very wary of it. But I know for a fact that there was, I have read the script, I have gone through all those statements that have come from the government, so why not? And I would have played it even if it was a Hindu woman. According to me, it was about a woman, it was not about a religion, it was about terrorists.”
‘The Kerala Story’, which released in May 2023, was earlier officially described as the story of more than 32,000 Kerala women who had allegedly been radicalised by Islamic fundamentalists.
However, the number was changed to three after several people slammed the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’ against the misinformation being spread by the film.
After the box office success of ‘The Kerala Story’, Vipul Shah announced his next project titled ‘Bastar: The Naxal Story’. Starring Adah Sharma, the film will deal with a sensitive subject. The movie will hit theatres on April 5, 2024.
