Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it was "extremely unfortunate" that a film which insults Kerala's secular traditions and defames it before the world was honoured.
Published Aug 03, 2025 | 12:09 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 03, 2025 | 12:09 PM
Poster of The Kerala Story.
Synopsis: The controversial Hindi film The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, has sparked criticism in Kerala after the alleged propaganda movie won accolades at the 71st National Awards. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others delivered sharp criticism against the film and the jury which gave the awards.
The controversial Hindi film The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, has sparked criticism in Kerala after the alleged propaganda movie won the Best Direction and Best Cinematography Awards at the 71st National Awards.
The movie had invited strong criticisms in 2023 when it was released in Kerala. Ahead of its release, the movie, which claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined the Islamic state, had to face backlash even in the Supreme Court.
The top court asked the makers to remove unverified and baseless claims from the promotional materials of the film, including the teaser.
Without any research, the promotions for the movie had claimed that thousands of Hindu women were converted to Islam, sexually abused, and taken to various places outside India to join the Islamic state. The makers had to issue a disclaimer as the claim was fictionalised.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had congratulated the winners of the national awards. However, at the same time, he delivered a sharp criticism against the film and the jury which gave the awards.
On Saturday, 2 August, while inaugurating the Film Policy Conclave in Thiruvananthapuram, he said that the national awards given to The Kerala Story are an endorsement of attempts to misuse movies to spread communal hatred, and urged the cultural and film community to oppose such moves unitedly.
He also said that it was “extremely unfortunate” that a film which insults Kerala’s secular traditions and defames it before the world was honoured.
“This also insults the great cultural heritage of Indian cinema and sends out the message that art should be used to destroy the secularism of our country and replace it with communalism,” the chief minister said.
The veteran communist leader also said that the film community needs to wake up against such a “distorted” portrayal of Kerala and put an end to such moves.
Vijayan had also said in a social media post that 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 had “lent legitimacy to a narrative rooted in the divisive ideology of the Sangh Parivar”.
Meanwhile, Congress leader KC Venugopal said that The Kerala Story deserves to be in the dustbin. “It peddles a rotten agenda and maligns my beautiful state of Kerala,” he said.
“The film getting the National Awards is the most perfect example of how the BJP sponsors and promotes hate from the highest echelons of government. Kerala will never ever tolerate this insult it has received from the government of its own country,” he said.
The Congress general secretary also said that people “will punish the BJP so hard that they will not even dream of gaining any acceptance for generations to come”.
Speaking about The Kerala Story being given awards, Kerala Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cheriyan told the media that he didn’t understand on what basis the awards were given to the film.
Cheriyan further added that the Union government has shattered the economy of Kerala, and it has appointed Governors to saffronise Kerala’s secular and progressive higher education system. “Now the BJP has overturned the national film awards to malign Kerala,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV, the National Awards Jury Chairman Ashutosh Gowariker said that giving awards to The Kerala Story was a unanimous decision and that despite the controversy, it tackled a “difficult topic” and conveyed it with clarity that deserved recognition.
“One is the cinematography award. The cinematography in The Kerala Story was very stark and realistic. It didn’t ever try to overpower the narrative; the images were created within the realm of things. So, we applauded that,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Malayalee jury member and filmmaker Pradeep Nair told the media that the movie was chosen based on its “relevance” in addressing what the jury considered a “major social issue in India”.
Onmanorama reported that Pradeep Nair, being a Malayali on the panel, had raised serious objections. “I questioned how a film that defames a state like Kerala and serves as propaganda could be considered for a national honour. I even conveyed my concerns directly to the jury chairperson,” he was quoted as saying.
Nair said that he was the only one who labelled it as propaganda, and others argued that even if it was controversial, it tackled a relevant social issue.
However, director Sudipto Sen has asked the ministers of Kerala to watch the film first and form an opinion. He also said that the movie doesn’t have ideas of Islamophobia.
Meanwhile, social media received the news of national awards for The Kerala Story with huge criticism. Netizens have questioned the basis on which the awards were given.
Critics noted that the film’s cinematography, for which it was awarded, has been one of the worst works in Indian cinema. The social media posts also said that the jury committed a disturbing act, and the relevance of the awards has been lost.
Young Malayalam filmmaker Govind Vishnu told South First that the National Award to The Kerala Story was a ridiculous act.
Scriptwriter PS Arjun said that he hasn’t seen the movie, but from the trailer and clips, the quality is very normal. “It is a blunder to give such a prestigious award, especially for direction and cinematography,” he said. He also added that the whole National Awards this year is an act of stupidity.
Meanwhile, Kannada actor Raj B Shetty, who is in Kerala to promote his new movie Su From So, when asked about The Kerala Story receiving awards, said, “I haven’t watched the movie. But I think any award should always be neutral. It can be more considerate of the art form and not on the popularity of the film. If a popular film gets an award, I think that’s not the right thing”.
The Kerala Story won two major awards at the 71st National Film Awards — Best Direction (Sudipto Sen) and Best Cinematography (Prasantanu Mohapatra).
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
