The Kerala Story box office collection Day 4: Sudipto Sen’s film does better than Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, nears Rs 50 crore mark

With this, the total collection of The Kerala Story comes to around Rs 45.75 cr. It should pass the Rs 50 crore mark today. Clearly, the film is unaffected by protests from the opposition, a ban by Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, and the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association withdrawing it from multiplexes.

The film’s director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Shah had called the press conference after several theatres apparently declined to screen the movie in Tamil Nadu, fearing protests. Asked about the losses the movie may face due to the ban, Shah told PTI, “We will not talk about profit or loss now, we will only try to ensure that more and more people watch the film. If a state government or a private person will try to stop the film, then we will try every legal route possible.”

Leaving aside the controversy, The Kerala Story has not impressed film critics. The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta wrote in her review of the film, “After two hours plus of being battered by a barrage of bad-Muslims-who-are-completing-the-job-Aurangzeb-left-hanging (not kidding, this is an actual line in the film), and listening to jibes at ‘Communists’, you wonder why those who want to create effective propaganda have not learned the tricks of the trade from the master, Leni Riefenstahl? At least then we would have been something to look at.”