Kamal Haasan Calls The Kerala Story 'Propaganda'; Anurag Kashyap Says 'I'm Against Banning But...'

Actor Kamal Haasan and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap have expressed their views on Vipul Shah’s The Kerala Story, which has been making headlines for more than a month now. The film, starring Adah Sharma, hit theatres on May 5 amid major controversy and multiple petitions challenging its release. It revolves around a Hindu woman from Kerala who is converted to Islam and trafficked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

While Anurag is against the calls for its ban, he claims it’s indeed “a propaganda film”. Talking to Hindustan Times, Anurag said, “Frankly you can’t escape politics in today’s day and age. It’s very hard for cinema to be non-political. A lot of films that we call propaganda films like The Kerala Story are being made. I’m totally against banning anything but it is a propaganda film. That’s political. I don’t want to make a film that sounds like counter-propaganda,” he said.

During a media interaction on the sidelines of IIFA 2023, Kamal Haasan also shared his thoughts on the film The Kerala Story. “I told you, it’s propaganda film that I am against. It’s not enough if you write true story just at the bottom as a logo. It has to really be true and that is not true,” he said.

He added, “It’s not enough that you say based on a true story because that what everyone does. I think, you have to hit the true cord in audience that kind of cinema is not one kind of cinema. There is mono culture, is not the great thing specially in art. So all kind of cinema should come over. And I am a great fan of smaller movies. Like babies that grow up to be something really big. I also became a star by these kind of smaller films which made it big with audience. Awards are different thing. I am talking about audience accepting it much before the award jury grand them the honour.”

On May 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared a ban on The Kerala Story in the state “to avoid any incident of hatred and violence.” However, the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on the movie a few days back.