Producer Vipul Shah reacted to the Kerala High Court’s order to lift the interim stay on his film The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond. While welcoming the court’s decision, he revealed that the film had been examined by a committee of eight experts.
Shah conducted a recent press conference in Mumbai on Friday where he gave the details of the court’s proceedings.
He said, “Now, there is no point in further discussion following the High Court’s order. The honourable judges did not find any shortcomings in the functioning of the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification)”
Shah emphasised that his film was reviewed by an eight-member committee, instead of a regular five-member committee on the board. He added, “I want to make a clarification: generally, a film’s censor screening involves a five-member committee. However, for this film, there were eight members, including two social workers from Kerala, to ensure there was no misrepresentation related to the state.”
The 58-year-old further disclosed the identity of a few members from the reviewing committee. He said, “A professor from Delhi, an expert in socio-political subjects, was also invited to the screening. After these three experts viewed the movie and shared their feedback, the certificate was granted by the CBFC. While the court may have initially overlooked this aspect, the subsequent bench acknowledged the expert opinions and concluded there was no reason to question the certification.”
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What happened in the court on Friday?
A Division Bench on Friday, comprising Justices SA Dharmadhikari and PV Balakrishnan, set aside the earlier order passed by the single-judge bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, which had temporarily halted the film’s release while acting upon a petition filed against its censor certificate.
Justice Thomas on Thursday had imposed a 15-day stay and directed the CBFC to examine representations filed against the movie. The court earlier pulled up the censor board for issuing a U/A rating to the film, telling them that they didn’t “abide by the guidelines.”
The producers immediately filed an appeal against the ruling that very day. Recognising the time-sensitive nature of the situation, the Division Bench gathered for a special session on Friday at 7:30 pm that evening to review the challenge. After a hearing that spanned more than two hours, the Bench chose to reserve its final judgment.
On Friday, the court handed down its ruling, lifting the interim stay and allowing the movie to proceed with its release. While the legal path is now clear, the producers have not yet confirmed a revised date for the film to hit theatres.
All about the film and the controversy
Directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, The Kerala Story 2 claims that young Hindu women are lured into interfaith marriages, then assaulted, stripped of their rights, and forced to convert to Islam. The film’s content snowballed into a controversy after the release of its trailer.
The trailer introduces three Hindu women from different parts of India who choose to marry Muslim men against their families’ wishes. The story then shifts to their mounting regret, depicting how they are stripped of their cultural roots and eventually find themselves ensnared in abusive, cold, and restrictive domestic lives.
The film is presented as a stark warning, specifically targeting young women. It suggests that pursuing cross-faith romantic relationships can result in the erosion of one’s personal identity, religious beliefs, and individual freedom.
Directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond features Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia and Aishwarya Ojha in crucial roles.
