Skip to main content

The Kerala Story


I wanted to watch the movie, The Kerala Story, on the day it was released. But none of the theatres near my home screened it for various reasons. Now, a day after the release, I don’t want to watch it at all. Reason: I read a dozen reviews and none has a good word to say about the movie.

Every review I’ve read so far, including Adani’s NDTV one, condemns the movie as substandard and crude. The NDTV review asserts that the makers of this movie have no idea about Kerala whatsoever. “The writing is consistently cringeworthy,” says the review. “The acting is no better.” It goes on to rubbish the movie judging it as pathetic without a single saving grace. The only purpose of the movie seems to be “to vilify a state of India on flimsy grounds.”

The Indian Express awards one star to the movie and says that even propaganda requires skills. “A poorly-made, poorly-acted rant” is what the Express calls The Kerala Story. The movie is mala fide in intention. It does not seek to interrogate the problem of Islamic terrorism and recruitment of youngsters to the ISIS. It merely throws a lot of slush on Kerala’s multi-religious, multi-ethnic identity.

It insults the people of Kerala, especially the girls, by projecting them as an utterly brainless lot who are just waiting to be carried away by silly propaganda, says the Film Companion. “If WhatsApp forwards could be a film, this would be it” – that’s the title of the review which says that Sudipto Sen’s filmmaking “teeters between ridiculous and chilling.”

The Scroll also makes a comparison with WhatsApp contents. The movie “speaks to the WhatsApp University crowd that fervently believes that Kerala is a hotbed of Islamic State recruitment.” Kerala’s girls emerge as innocent and naïve so much so they can be misled by any man bearing a Muslim name. Not just misled, they will come with you willingly and be your terrorist-fighters or sex slaves. The movie is nothing more than Muslim-bashing, says the Scroll.

My favourite newspaper is The Hindu whose review accuses the makers of this movie of “converting the audience into hatemongers.” The problem dealt with the movie, Islamic terrorism and recruitment of youngsters to ISIS, demands attention. But the treatment of the subject in this movie “gets increasingly guided more by local politics than cinematic sagacity.” All the major characters in this movie are either gullible girls eager to buy propaganda or sly creatures with Muslim names. There is not a single voice of sanity.

The Hindu points out that the treatment of certain issues requires subtlety. But the director of this movie is hammering down his message too violently and vociferously.

So, now you know why I won’t waste time watching this movie. And I understand why the theatres near my home didn’t care to screen this. There are certain things that we should keep far away from us as their proximity will contaminate us immensely. The Kerala Story is one such thing.

PS. There was one review which awarded half a star to the movie. But I can’t recall which.

Comments

  1. I don't like propaganda of any sort, be in the form of movies or articles or books. I have a feeling that they are one-sided, and there could be a lot of exaggeration. I try not watch such movies, unless I watch it, not to enjoy it, but to know what it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Art is never propaganda. Art makes us look deep into reality and understand it in our own way sincerely. That's where this movie is a total failure.

      Delete
  2. Hari OM
    Love your response to Pradeep's comment - the perfect summary of your post! What a shame the filmaker has gone for 'flash and trash' rather than grasping the opportunity to raise proper insight and debate. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most movie houses in Kerala have refused to screen this movie. Thank heavens, there's good sense in this state.

      Delete
  3. Even for evil propaganda some skill is needed. Correct 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They should take some lessons from Goebbels 😊

      Delete
  4. Par for the course our country seems to be on.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like to choose my own books and films. Sure that way I seen some five stars, But yet I see some less than one stars.
    Coffee is on, and stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had no clue that such a movie had been released till today. Serendipitously, I read this post by Manu Pillai on Insta--https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr93BatPPMQ/ earlier today and then your post.
    So glad to read that theatres near you declined to show the movie.

    On the topic of art and after reading your response to Pradeep, I must share my recent movie watching disappointment! I went to sleep in the theatre while watching PS2!! My husband had to shake me awake. We left soon afterwards. I'm still unclear about why a Mani Ratnam film would disappoint me -- and how it's managing to do do so well on the box office! But then, it's the norm these days. Art or commerce? I wonder what will win in the end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Commerce is ok, it's about popular entertainment. But political propaganda with malicious motives is terrifying.

      I didn't watch PS, either part. I don't find such movies appealing too.

      Delete
  7. Times Of India published a review with 3 stars, but even they cautioned about its intent towards the end, and in today's TOI edition Manu S Pillai wrote a column about the real Kerela Story which is its enduring multicultural legacy. Im hopeful because it shows that not all sense is lost in our country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many states have refused to screen it altogether. Good sense is not so rare.

      Delete
  8. I am sure the vast majority in this country will read in between the lines...... like Careena says, all sense is not lost in our country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vast majority? I doubt. There are a lot of sensible people, no doubt.

      Delete
  9. As believed by many in Kerala. the real "Kerala story" is not the Bollywood movie with the title given by Sen but the Malayalam movie "2018" which tells the story of mutual love & collaboration- of how the people of the state together battled and won over the floods in the state.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great observation, Rajeev. That love and collaboration should be understood and promoted. 👍

      Delete
  10. Saw the movie. The students in the movie appear so gullible and spineless. not an earth shattering production but the narrative is same like Netflix's "Caliphate" where gullible girls are hoodwinked into ASIS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's all propaganda and hence the brainlessness is expected. Their only purpose is to hoodwink as many people as possible.

      Delete
  11. Film Making Course in Chandigarh, Film Direction Courses is a combination of the various techniques learn with Morph Academy. Call 9501489999

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ayodhya: Kingdom of Sorrows

T he Sarayu carried more tears than water. Ayodhya was a sad kingdom. Dasaratha was a good king. He upheld dharma – justice and morality – as best as he could. The citizens were apparently happy. Then, one day, it all changed. One person is enough to change the destiny of a whole kingdom. Who was that one person? Some say it was Kaikeyi, one of the three official wives of Dasaratha. Some others say it was Manthara, Kaikeyi’s chief maid. Manthara was a hunchback. She was the caretaker of Kaikeyi right from the latter’s childhood; foster mother, so to say, because Kaikeyi had no mother. The absence of maternal influence can distort a girl child’s personality. With a foster mother like Manthara, the distortion can be really bad. Manthara was cunning, selfish, and morally ambiguous. A severe physical deformity can make one worse than all that. Manthara was as devious and manipulative as a woman could be in a men’s world. Add to that all the jealousy and ambition that insecure peo...

Abdullah’s Religion

O Abdulla Renowned Malayalam movie actor Mohanlal recently offered special prayers for Mammootty, another equally renowned actor of Kerala. The ritual was performed at Sabarimala temple, one of the supreme Hindu pilgrimage centres in Kerala. No one in Kerala found anything wrong in Mohanlal, a Hindu, praying for Mammootty, a Muslim, to a Hindu deity. Malayalis were concerned about Mammootty’s wellbeing and were relieved to know that the actor wasn’t suffering from anything as serious as it appeared. Except O Abdulla. Who is this Abdulla? I had never heard of him until he created an unsavoury controversy about a Hindu praying for a Muslim. This man’s Facebook profile describes him as: “Former Professor Islahiaya, Media Critic, Ex-Interpreter of Indian Ambassador, Founder Member MADHYAMAM.” He has 108K followers on FB. As I was reading Malayalam weekly this morning, I came to know that this Abdulla is a former member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Kerala , a fundamentalist organisation. ...

Lucifer and some reflections

Let me start with a disclaimer: this is not a review of the Malayalam movie, Lucifer . These are some thoughts that came to my mind as I watched the movie today. However, just to give an idea about the movie: it’s a good entertainer with an engaging plot, Bollywood style settings, superman type violence in which the hero decimates the villains with pomp and show, and a spicy dance that is neatly tucked into the terribly orgasmic climax of the plot. The theme is highly relevant and that is what engaged me more. The role of certain mafia gangs in political governance is a theme that deserves to be examined in a good movie. In the movie, the mafia-politician nexus is busted and, like in our great myths, virtue triumphs over vice. Such a triumph is an artistic requirement. Real life, however, follows the principle of entropy: chaos flourishes with vengeance. Lucifer is the real winner in real life. The title of the movie as well as a final dialogue from the eponymous hero sugg...

Empuraan and Ramayana

Maggie and I will be watching the Malayalam movie Empuraan tomorrow. The tickets are booked. The movie has created a lot of controversy in Kerala and the director has decided to impose no less than 17 censors on it himself. I want to watch it before the jingoistic scissors find its way to the movie. It is surprising that the people of Kerala took such exception to this movie when the same people had no problem with the utterly malicious and mendacious movie The Kerala Story (2023). [My post on that movie, which I didn’t watch, is here .] Empuraan is based partly on the Gujarat riots of 2002. The riots were real and the BJP’s role in it (Mr Modi’s, in fact) is well-known. So, Empuraan isn’t giving the audience any falsehood as The Kerala Story did. Moreover, The Kerala Story maligned the people of Kerala while Empuraan is about something that happened in the faraway Gujarat quite long ago. Why are the people of Kerala then upset with Empuraan ? Because it tells the truth, M...

Empuraan – Review

Revenge is an ancient theme in human narratives. Give a moral rationale for the revenge and make the antagonist look monstrously evil, then you have the material for a good work of art. Add to that some spices from contemporary politics and the recipe is quite right for a hit movie. This is what you get in the Malayalam movie, Empuraan , which is running full houses now despite the trenchant opposition to it from the emergent Hindutva forces in the state. First of all, I fail to understand why so much brouhaha was hollered by the Hindutvans [let me coin that word for sheer convenience] who managed to get some 3 minutes censored from the 3-hour movie. The movie doesn’t make any explicit mention of any of the existing Hindutva political parties or other organisations. On the other hand, Allahu Akbar is shouted menacingly by Islamic terrorists, albeit towards the end. True, the movie begins with an implicit reference to what happened in Gujarat in 2002 after the Godhra train burnin...