The official trailer of The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond, which was unveiled on Tuesday, invoked strong reactions on social media, with many film-goers criticising the makers for their ‘hateful’ portrayal of the Muslim community. Meanwhile, a few also pointed to a visual from the trailer where a Muslim family force-feeds beef to a Hindu girl, alleging the makers of inciting communal hate. On Thursday morning, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to his social media page, to condemn The Kerala Story 2 team.
Kerala CM posted on his X page, “The reports regarding the release of a sequel to the hate-mongering film 'The Kerala Story' should be seen with utmost gravity. It is shocking how fabricated narratives aimed at inciting communal discord receive a free pass, while critical expressions of art get gagged.” The Chief Minister also called for everyone to take a united ‘against these attempts to paint our land of harmony as a hub of terror.’ “Having already seen through the communal agenda and blatant lies of the first part, Kerala will once again reject this attempt to demonise our secular fabric with contempt,” he noted.
It is to be noted that the first part of the franchise, The Kerala Story (2023) too faced many protests in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu for instigating communal disharmony. The makers were also ordered to remove all promotional material that made incorrect claims about religious conversion of Hindu girls to Islam. Additionally, the film had faced a ban in West Bengal. However, the film eventually went to be a major box office hit, and also was conferred with 2 National Awards.
Produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, The Kerala Story 2 is set for a theatrical release nationwide on February 27.The film features Aditi Bhatia, Ulka Gupta, and Aishwarya Ojha in lead roles.
