Shabana Azmi against a ban on The Kerala Story: ‘As wrong as those who wanted to ban Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha’

“Those who speak of banning #The Kerala Story are as wrong as those who wanted to ban Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaadha. Once a film has been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification nobody has the right to become an extra constitutional authority,” Azmi tweeted.

Those who speak of banning #The Kerala Story are as wrong as those who wanted to ban Aamir Khan’s #Laal Singh Chaadha. Once a film has been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification nobody has the right to become an extra constitutional authority .

— Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) May 8, 2023

Starring Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani, The Kerala Story was earlier officially described as the story of more than 32,000 Kerala women who’d allegedly been radicalised by Islamic fundamentalists. However, the number was changed to three after protests began online against the misinformation being spread by the film.

The decision to halt its screening sin Tamil Nadu came in the wake of protests led by the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) demanding to stop The Kerala Story’s screenings in the state, from May 7 onwards. President of Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association, M Subramaniam confirmed the news that some multiplexes that had shown the film had decided to withdraw it.

He told PTI, “The film was only shown in a few multiplexes owned by pan-India groups, mostly PVR. Locally-owned multiplexes had already decided not to show the film, as it did not have any popular stars. In Coimbatore for instance, there were two shows so far — one on Friday and one on Saturday. Even those did not do well. Given that, theatres decided that it was not worth going through the threat of protests and such.”