When the 71st National Film Awards were announced on Friday, the much-discussed Hindi film The Kerala Story walked away with two wins—Best Direction to Sudipto Sen and Best Cinematography to Prasantanu Mohapatra. The jury's decision has invited strong criticism from a section that feels the film was part of a political propaganda to spread hatred against the state of Kerala and the Muslim community in general.
Lashing out against the jury, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called the decision a "grave insult" to the state. He accused the jury of lending "legitimacy to a narrative rooted in the divisive ideology of the Sangh Parivar." He also urged everyone who believes in democracy to "raise their voice in defence of truth and the constitutional values."
"By honouring a film that spreads blatant misinformation with the clear intent of tarnishing Kerala’s image and sowing seeds of communal hatred, the jury of the #NationalFilmAwards has lent legitimacy to a narrative rooted in the divisive ideology of the Sangh Parivar. Kerala, a land that has always stood as a beacon of harmony and resistance against communal forces, has been gravely insulted by this decision. It is not just Malayalis, but everyone who believes in democracy, must raise their voice in defence of truth and the constitutional values we hold dear," wrote the Chief Minister on X.
The Kerala Story is about a group of Malayali women who get coerced into converting to Islam and joining the Islamic State. The makers' decision to market it as a 'true story' with claims that thousands of Hindu women from Kerala have been converted to Islam and recruited in the Islamic State turned into a major political controversy at the time of its release. It eventually forced the makers to add disclaimers saying that the figures about the number of Kerala women joining ISIS were wrongly mentioned in the film and that it was a fictionalised depiction. The film was also met with largely negative reviews from the critics, but as per the makers, it still managed a box office business of over Rs 300 crores.