Even as there is plenty of discourse about The Kerala Story undeserving of its two wins—Best Director and Best Cinematographer—at the National Film Awards, its director Sudipto Sen said that it deserved more recognition. In an exclusive conversation with The Hindustan Times, the filmmaker revealed that he anticipated the film to get recognised in the technical categories because "it is being talked about" even "two years after its release." However, the director also expected The Kerala Story star Adah Sharma, writer, and makeup artist to win at the National Film Awards. The film is written by Sudipto himself, Suryapal Singh and Vipul Amrutlal Shah. It has Shriniwas Reddy as the makeup designer. Sudipto said that he is "a little sad" about the lack of further recognition for the film. However, he regarded getting recognised for direction at the national level as "a great honour" that made him feel overwhelmed.
The film tells a story about the terrorist organisation ISIS converting some Malayali girls into Muslims and using them as its radical operatives. The film courted controversy way back when its trailer released, claiming that 32,000 women from Kerala converted their religions to join the said terrorist outfit. The claim went against data from the government itself, making the film's producers to change the number 32,000 into just three. In the recent conversation, Sudipto Sen also revealed that he cannot be discredited by calling The Kerala Story a "propaganda film."
