Filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s upcoming film, The Kerala Story, has been creating headlines ever since its teaser was unveiled. It revolves around the stories of Hindu women of Kerala who were converted to Islam and trafficked to ISIS and other Islamic war zones in 2018-2019. It unearths the events behind approximately 32,000 women going missing in Kerala, who are said to have been radicalised and deployed in terror missions in India and the world. The trailer of the film triggered protests in Kerala and some parts of the country along with some political parties calling for a ban on the screening of the film.
In an exclusive chat with News18, Shah addresses the controversies surrounding the film, owing to its subject. Although he believes that they are simply portraying the “truth" through the movie, he feels that political parties have the right to express their dissent as it’s “a sign of a healthy democracy." Excerpts:
The Kerala Story is inspired from the life of a girl who was converted to Islam, sent to Syria and is in a jail in Afghanistan at present. Did you get the chance to speak to her?
My director (Sudipto Sen) spoke to her over a call while she was in jail. We also recorded a long interview with her mother. We collected all the information from both of them and that’s how we started [the process of making the film]. When we started working on it, we realised that there are many such cases that have happened and are happening in Kerala. And as a result of that, we came across the stories of three girls.
How much were you involved in the casting process?
I’ve co-written the film. I’m also the producer and creative director of the film. I get involved in every project that I do irrespective of what my role in it is. I believe that until and unless you put everything that you have into a project, you can’t get the best out of it.
Considering the film is based on a bold subject, was it tough getting actors on board? Were they apprehensive?
I don’t see it as a bold film but a story that was very important to be told. So, when we approached the actors, we felt no hesitation. They were all very happy to work on this film. Since this a story relating to girls, they all thought that it was important for the film to be made. So, everybody who has worked on this film, has worked with a lot of commitment and sincerity.
Some political groups have demanded a ban on the screening of The Kerala Story. Did that deter you?
I believe in the law. The censor board has cleared the film. They heavily scrutinised the film for almost one-and-a-half months before giving us the certificate. We’re glad that we went through this scrutiny. We know that every evidence and document we provided to the final authority of film certification have been approved. It shows that they have accepted our truth. After this, if some groups has complaints and want to create some kind of trouble, I think it is best left to the courts or any legal authority to decide. I don’t get bothered by these things. I believe we’ve done everything right according to the law. So, we’ve nothing to worry about.
You’ve said that The Kerala Story is a film about girls becoming victims and not Love Jihad. But don’t you think when you make films on a subjects like these, it inadvertently becomes political?
That tends to happen. Every political party has their own ideology. And when they find some issue which is either against or in sync with their ideology, they tend to connect with it. So, if any political party is opposing the film, then I’m sure the film is opposing the ideology of the party itself and that’s the reason why they feel this film shouldn’t be publicised or seen by people. That’s bound to happen in a country like India where politics is a very important part of our day-to-day lives. Everything tends to become political in our country. So, I can only expect things to get political when you’re making something which is an uncomfortable truth and people find it difficult to deal with. Hence, resistance is bound to happen. I don’t necessarily feel it’s a bad thing because people in a democracy have all the right to disagree with us and we’ve all the right to go and make a film that we believe in as long as we’re saying the truth. We’re open to any discussion and debate that anyone wants to have. I think that’s a sign of a healthy democracy.
But have you seen anybody not agreeing with what’s shown in The Kerala Story?
I read that a minister from Kerala has made a statement and given a call to ban the film. But again, if the film isn’t aligned with his or his party’s ideology, then he has all the right to speak against it. But whether a film should be banned or not should be decided by the courts and the censor board. In my understanding of law, once the censor board clears a film, it largely can’t be banned. But if anybody still has a reason to ban it, so be it. If a film talks about a murky trap laid for girls and that’s against a party’s ideology, then what can I say? It’s their choice and freedom to do whatever they feel is right. As far as I’m concerned, just because the film is called The Kerala Story, it doesn’t mean that the film is against Kerala.
Go on…
If a film is called Shootout at Lokhandwala and some criminals were shot in Lokhandwala in Mumbai, does that mean that the film is against Mumbai? There’s another film called Mumbai Saga which talks about the underworld of Mumbai. Does that mean it’s against Mumbai? If I was to show the story of Dawood Ibrahim? Where will I place it? I’ll have to place it in Mumbai because he operated here. Will that mean it’s against Mumbai? No. We call Kerala heaven on earth. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. But to say that there’s nobody in Kerala doing wrong things is like stretching it really too far. Making it about Kerala’s pride is also stretching it too far. I rather feel that the fantastic people of Kerala should come forward and catch these perpetrators and put them behind the bars. That would be doing service to their wonderful state rather than saying that we’re trying to defame their state by calling our film The Kerala Story and that they want to ban it. According to me, this just defies logic. If I love my city, I’ll do something for it rather than being an ostrich and putting my head into the sand, believing that nothing bad is happening. That’s not an approach I would take.
Have you screened the film for the families of the girls on whom the story is based?
They will see it soon. Some of them were suffering from Covid and so, we couldn’t show it to them earlier.
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