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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT "THE KERELA STORY" | The Kerela Story is a recently pan-India released movie, starring Adah Sharma (Shalini or Fatima) in the lead along with Siddhi Idnani (Geetanjali), Yogita Bihani (Nimah) and  Sonia Balani (Asifa) among others. It is directed by Sudipto Sen on the incident of Kerela. Talking about the plot of the movie let us have a look at it-

The Kerela Story follows three nursing students in Kerala who are brainwashed by an extreme group into believing that their gods are bad and that only Islam can be the guiding light. It is stated to be rooted on evident accounts of how guiltless non-Muslim young ladies are selected for the Islamic State. The girls are caught in a horrific game where they are used as pawns in a fictitious war of civilizations after being lured by love and illogical tactics.

One such young woman, Shalini aka Fatima Ba (Adah Sharma), is converted and transported to Syria with her husband to support the Islamic State's “cause”. She relates her narrative in a flashback from when she was captured and imprisoned in Afghanistan, when she and her two friends, Geetanjali (Siddhi Idnani) and Nimah (Yogita Bihani), were persuaded to join the mission by another classmate Asifa (Sonia Balani). The burden of resisting the evil plan falls primarily on the other two as Shalni gives up.

Now you must be thinking why this movie is so much in trend. And why the government is denying its existence.

The Indian media depicts two contradicting views on The Kerela Story. Categorizing these two sides of the same coin into The leftists and rightists, lets see what are the reviews and opinions of both the wings.

Right:-

• The cast has been very wisely selected and none of the actors disappoints us as everyone has performed their part remarkably well.
• Ada Sharma(Shalini or Fatima Ba) delivers a stunner, very aptly matching the story setting. The emotions depicted by her equals the original if not surpass it.
• The director has skillfully produced scenes that cause spectators to feel naturally uneasy.
• It might be challenging to maintain a balance when discussing sensitive subjects, but Sudipto appears to be able to do it with utter comfort.
• The sceneries in Afghanistan and the areas around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have been beautifully captured by Prasantanu Mohapatra (Head of the Cam Department).
• The premise of "The Kerala Story" is that, young Hindu women were radicalised and converted to Islam in Kerala, where they were then compelled to join ISIS.
• The film retains a polarizing tone and the gaze is emotionally invasive; it is more like a companion piece to The Kashmir Files.
• It's vital to involve alert while seeing the appalling assault occurrence in the ISIS slave camp.
• This frightening and thought-provoking movie makes an effect without a doubt.

 Left:-

• The film periodically appears to be more similar to an illustration on radicalization than something the crowd would see as engaging.
• Additionally, it goes to great lengths to prove its point, which may be disturbing to viewers from a variety of communities in our nation.
• Like the bigots in the film, apparently the film's makers are anxious to prompt scorn among watchers and give it a public voice.
• The show turns out to be increasingly more affected by neighborhood legislative issues instead of artistic wisdom, notwithstanding the way that the idea requires consideration and profound association.
• There are some touching moments, but for the most part, the focus is on naive ladies who are eager to buy the propaganda or cunning monsters with Muslim names. Nuance cannot be found, and there is no voice of rationality.
• Although the hostel sequences with the females are wonderfully done, the movie nevertheless has some tedious and uninteresting sections.
• Sen seems determined to drive home the point throughout despite the treatment calling for a gentle, nuanced touch with so much suffering on paper.
• It is odd that the authors don't situate the tale in the intricate geopolitical questions of who founded Islamic State and why its heart isn't breaking for the cause of Palestine.
• Sen, who has an adult certificate in hand, uses brutality to elicit an emotional response from the audience by leaving little to the audience's imagination.
• The Kerala Story eventually extrapolates the figures by selling half-truths.
• It does not give voice to the opinions of many academics and professionals who frequently wonder what kept Indian Muslims from enlisting with the Islamic State.

The views of both the media groups were contradictory and made the audience curious about the movie. The movie went crazy viral when Shree Shashi Tharoor ji made a tweet about the film stating “It’s your Kerela story not our Kerela story”.

This tweet went viral and produced a lot of rage and acted as a spark to the fire starting  the discussions.

While Mr. Tharoor denies the existence of the incident though claims of being countered with the victims of the incident itself in a tweet of 2021 which says-

Later he responds to the media raising questions about the dual nature possessed by the political leader. He further tweets-

Thus, the movie itself is debatable and claims the incident to be true and is a light bearer of the tragic stories of about 32 thousand women that were human trafficked to Afghanistan.

If you have already watched the movie, kindly let us know your opinions and views on the movie and the political status of India and media diversity in the comments section below, while others who haven’t watched the movie yet, please do so and let us know your experience in the comments.

This was about reviews and opinions of the Indian audience on the recently released movie THE KERELA STORY. We hope this article proves helpful to all. Thank you so much for reading our blog till the end.