‘The Kerala Story’ row: Anurag Kashyap Calls West Bengal’s Ban on Film Wrong

Hyderabad: Released amid huge criticism from all corners, ‘The Kerala Story’ helmed by Sudipo Sen has been banned in West Bengal on May 8, two days after the film’s release. Mamata Banerjee-led government called for a ban on the film citing a threat to law and order in the State.

The Adah Sharma-starrer has been mulling over a huge political controversy ever since the release of its trailer. The film was termed ‘propaganda’ and is accused of distorting facts as it claimed that 32,000 girls from Kerala went missing and joined the terrorist group, ISIS. The film’s makers had recently tweaked the trailer description on YouTube from being the ‘story of 32,000 women’ to that of three women, which again lead to another debate.

While Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are endorsing the film by providing it with tax-free status, it has been reportedly pulled out of theatres in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as it failed to fetch big collections at the box office. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal became the first State to ban the film.

Amid the chaos, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who has always been quite vocal on his social media about his views, reacted to the ban of the film by sharing a quote by French philosopher Voltaire which read, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

“You agree with the film or not, be it propaganda, counter-propaganda, offensive or not, to ban it is just wrong,” he captioned the post. Further explaining his stance, Anurag said that banning a film would not be the right way to make a point. The filmmaker asked people to watch Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Afwaah’ instead. He said that the film talks about the misuse of social media and how inherent prejudice is weaponized to create hatred and unrest.

Several leaders from the BJP government have opposed the ban on the film. Meanwhile, after Union Minister Anurag Thakur criticized the ban, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh in an interview with ‘India Today’ reportedly hit back, asking the Minister why the Centre banned the BBC documentary on PM Modi.

However, the Bengal BJP unit has reportedly decided to challenge the State government’s decision in the Calcutta High Court.

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