KOCHI: Amid tight security cover and protests, ‘The Kerala Story’ on Friday opened in 20-odd theatres in the state, on a day the High Court declined to stay the controversial film saying it did not find anything offensive to any particular community, going by the teaser.
Hearing a batch of petitions against the screening of the film, the High Court, before declining to stay the film, received a submission from its producer that it would remove the teaser forthwith from their social media handles, which claimed that over 32,000 women from Kerala were recruited to terror outfit ISIS.
The order by the division bench comprising Justice N Nagaresh and Justice Sophy Thomas was notable as it quoted several past instances, including the award-winning 1973 M T Vasudevan Nair-directed film Nirmalyam to point out that ‘Kerala is secular’ and that a competent statutory like the Central Board of Film Certification had examined the movie and found it suitable for exhibition. “There are umpteen films showing Hindu priests as smugglers, rapists, etc, nothing happened in the country? In Kerala we are secular,” said the court.
Citing Nirmalyam, the court said “There was a movie where an oracle spits on the face of the idol of a goddess. However, there were no issues. Can you imagine? It is an award-winning movie.”
The court said this is not the first time where a movie sets something in a bad light. “Why this movie alone?” the court asked.
No derogatory remarks against a religion: HC
The court said there were also no incorrect and derogatory remarks against a religion. “What is there against Muslims? This is a fictional story. Merely because some religious heads are shown in a bad light, that is not a reason to ban the movie,” the court said.
On the reference to terror outfit ISIS, the court said: If there is something offending against someone, it is ISIS only. “There is nothing against the Muslim community,” it said.
Members of Fraternity Movement, the students wing of Welfare Party of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and NCP Youth, the youth-wing of NCP, raised slogans and protested outside Shenoy’s Cinemas, the lone theatre in Kochi that screened the film.
Tight police barricades ensured that the protesters did not enter the theatre. Fraternity activists also raised protests outside the theatres in Kozhikode while the BJP workers protested at the Carnival Theatre in Downtown Hall, Thalassery in Kannur, after the cinema hall’s owners decided not to screen the movie. After the police came and held discussions with the theatre owners, the film was screened. The film screening went peacefully in Thiruvananthapuram, albeit with police protection.
The court also noted that the producers have published a disclaimer along with the movie which specifically states that the film has been fictionalised and is a dramatised version of events. “In view of the disclaimer and the assurance of the producer, we decline to pass an interim order restraining the filmmakers from exhibiting the film as such,” said the bench.
WHAT HIGH COURT SAID
The trailer or teaser contains nothing offensive against a particular community. Citing the 1973 Malayalam movie Nirmalyam, the court said, “In the movie, there’s an oracle spitting on the face of a goddess’ idol. However, there were no issues. Can you imagine? It is an award-winning movie.”
Film producer’s assurance
The movie’s teaser, which claimed that over 32,000 women from Kerala were recruited by ISIS, will be removed from the film’s official social media accounts.