- Saturday, March 01, 2025
Recently, screenings of the film in languages such as Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam that were scheduled across 31 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, were cancelled.
By: Shubham Ghosh
After the controversial Indian film ‘The Kerala Story’ was abruptly pulled from theatres in the UK ahead of its scheduled release in the country, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has given the nod for its release on Friday (19).
While all the scheduled shows of the film directed by Sudipto Sen were cancelled after it had not got an age classification from the BBFC, the latter has given the film ’18’ rating, The Quint reported.
Besides, it also gave a detailed a content advice to viewers watching ‘The Kerala Story’, the plot of which follows the story of some women from India’s Kerala who are converted to Islam and go on to join the Islamic State militant outfit.
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Under the ‘Discrimination’ rating, the BBFC has written: “The film presents a partial and unbalanced view of Islam which focuses on radical Islamist characters and motivations to the exclusion of more moderate and mainstream forms of the faith. There are regular scenes of discrimination on the basis of religion and gender. A woman spits on her dying father for not sharing her faith.”
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Under the ‘Violence’ rating, it wrote: “Scenes of strong violence include bloody shootings and stabbings. Women and men are executed and beaten by Islamic State soldiers, sometimes in public. Two women are shot and killed as they try to escape capture.”
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Last week, screenings of ‘The Kerala Story’ in languages such as Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam that were scheduled across 31 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, were cancelled. Cinema websites also paused sale of tickets and initiated refunds for the cancelled shows, the Mint reported.
Cineworld, a platform that sold the film’s tickets, tweeted: “…we are sorry that the upcoming performances of The Kerala Story have been cancelled. This is due to the film not receiving an age rating in time for the scheduled release date, all affected customers will be contacted and refunded. Apologies for any disappointment caused.”
The move faced a backlash from several Indians residing in the UK some of whom claimed that the BBFC was intentionally withholding the film to please “certain groups”.
India was divided over the screening of the film with states such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu deciding to impose a ban on its screening. Some other states, ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, made the film tax free. The film was released in India on May 5.
However, Sen was elated after his film received the green signal from the BBFC.
In a tweet, he said, “Congratulations #GreatBritain. You won. Terrorism lost. Shall wait for your reaction. Oh… now British people shall watch the biggest revolution against terror… [sic].”
Congratulations #GreatBritain . You won. Terrorism lost.
Shall wait for your reaction.
Oh… now British people shall watch the biggest revolution against terror… #TheKeralaStory.@adah_sharma @SiddhiIdnani pic.twitter.com/cQdpma95rB— Sudipto SEN (@sudiptoSENtlm) May 16, 2023
Adah Sharma, who plays the lead role in the film, also welcomed the move tweeting, “FINALLY !!! #TheKeralaStory releasing in the UK [sic].”
FINALLY !!! #TheKeralaStory releasing in the UK ?❤️ this is me showing my new friend my elephant videos and @snehal291986 आई convincing me to eat lunch in the break because then ‘shot ready ‘ will happen and then during crying scenes how to eat? But naye dost ko sab videos show… pic.twitter.com/WD4fON0k9D
— Adah Sharma (@adah_sharma) May 17, 2023
