The Kerala Story - A Thought Provoking Movie Review

The Kerala Story - A Thought Provoking Movie Review

The Kerala Story is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani feature in the film. The premise revolves around a group of Kerala women who converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The film sparked outrage by incorrectly suggesting that thousands of Kerala women were being converted to Islam and recruited into ISIS. The Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India have denounced it for propagating the love jihad conspiracy theory and the Sangh Parivar's objective.

Star Cast - Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani. 

Director - Sudipto Sen and Vipul Amrutlal Shah

What’s Good - Adah Sharma's portrayal of Shalini who was eventually renamed Fatima, is powerful and emotionally stirring. Other factors includes music and lyrics, dialogues, direction and locations.

What’s Bad - Extreme Showcase Of Violence, The dependability of the statistics displayed is not supported by any real evidence.

Run Time - 2h 18m

Plot

Play

The plot centers around Shalini Unnikrishnan (Adah Sharma), Nimah (Yogita Bihani), and Siddhi Idnani (Geetanjali), three nursing students who share a room with Asifa (Sonia Balani) in Kasargod, Kerala. 

The other three are completely unaware that Asifa is an ISIS operative whose purpose it is to indoctrinate and brainwash non-Muslim ladies in order to convert them to Islam. As part of a Love Jihad tactic, she plants two Muslim young men who pose as college students and approach Shalini and Geetanjali. 

During this time, Shalini falls pregnant with Rameez, who pretends as a medical student. He asks that she convert to Islam in order for him to marry her, but he then abandons her. After converting and renaming her Fathima, another man named Ishaq enters the scene and marries her. 

The plan is to transport her to Syria as a sex slave. The rest of the novel revolves around her ordeals and the plight of Geetanjali and Nimah at the hands of Muslim Jihadists.

The Movie Review 

With its release, The Kerala Story became somewhat of a stir. The disturbing revelations revealed in the film have sparked debate. The film is said to be not appropriate for many Indian communities. Only a specific community was in the majority in theatres, as evidenced by their unanimity in clapping and shouting for several biased speeches. 

This is the most daring endeavor since 'The Kashmir Files.' According to the closing titles, the film is an attempt to address the 32,000 non-Muslim Indian females from Kerala who were brainwashed, converted, impregnated, taken to terror camps, raped, and eventually ended up as sex slaves in ISIS camps in Syria and Afghanistan. 

There is a lot of violence in the Kerala story. Rape culture, hand chopping, beheading, and trauma perpetrated to innocent women are depicted in graphic detail. The locations are accurate, and the incidents depicted, as well as the manner young women are trapped and forced to convert to Islam, will undoubtedly shock you. Though there are no sequences that portray Islam negatively, the video takes a candid look at what goes on behind closed doors and how innocent women in Kerala are being converted to Islam.

The parts that reveal how these girls are brainwashed are very nicely written. On top of that, the real performances keep the audience's interest. The Kerala Story was made with no holds barred, and there are several situations that will undoubtedly move you. The film's strong emotions are one of its strongest assets.

One thing should be emphasised here. The film did not portray Islam negatively. Jhooti tasveer dikhaake majhab hi kambakt insa badal daalaa (presenting the erroneous picture of religion, it's regrettable that man has changed) is a line in one of the lyrics that shows the makers' respect for Islam. 

Artist Performance

The performances in Kerala Story are outstanding. Adah Sharma is renowned as a glamour model these days, yet her performance continues to astound everyone. Adah Sharma's portrayal of Shalini Unnikrishnan is award-worthy. She kept her Hindi and English diction, which suited an innocent Keralite, and she acted methodically. Adah Sharma's portrayal of Shalini, later called Fatima, is strong and heartbreaking.

Her portrayal of a Kerala girl, her diction, and the emotions she displays are all excellent. Sidhhi Idnani is also fantastic in her role and emotes beautifully. Sonaia Balani, who portrays the ISIS spy, was fantastic in her role, which provided her a lot of room to shine. Yogita Bihani was equally effective in her performance. Vijay Krishna, Pranav Mishra, and Pranay Pachauri played supporting roles convincingly.

Direction And Music

The film's production values are excellent. The videographer showcases the sites chosen in Syria, including the college backdrop and housing locales, brilliantly. The film's production values are outstanding. The videographer brilliantly showcases the locales chosen in Syria, including the college backdrop and housing surroundings. The music by Viresh Sreevalsa and Bisakh Jyoti was great, and the BGM was much better. The storyline is one of the highlights, as the picture goes back and forth in time and has been shown in an excellent manner. The editing was also good, but the dialogue was outstanding. The music by Viresh Sreevalsa and Bisakh Jyoti was fantastic, and the BGM was even better. 

One of the highlights is the screenplay, which swings back and forth in time and is presented in an outstanding manner. The editing was also excellent, but the dialogue was outstanding.

In conclusion, "The Kerala Story" film directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah has sparked outrage due to its incorrect suggestion that thousands of Kerala women were being converted to Islam and recruited into ISIS. 

The Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India have denounced it for propagating the love jihad conspiracy theory. While the film's star cast, music and lyrics, dialogues, direction, and locations are good, the extreme showcase of violence and the dependability of the statistics displayed is not supported by any real evidence. 

The performances of Adah Sharma, Sidhhi Idnani, Sonia Balani, and Yogita Bihani are outstanding, and the film's production values are excellent. However, the film's strong emotions may be upsetting for audiences from various communities in India, and at times, it may feel more like a radicalization tutorial than pleasure for the audience. 

At times, the film feels more like a radicalization tutorial than pleasure for the audience. It also goes to extremes to convey its point, which may be upsetting for audiences from various communities in our country. After seeing 'The Kerala Story,' you may have various doubts concerning the country's current status. This thought-provoking film is unpleasant and certainly has an impact.