DOWNLOAD THE KERALA STORY ( 2023) HINDI MOVIE

Movie Info:

Full Name: The Kerala Story

Language: Hindi

Release: May 5, 2023

Format: Mkv

Director: Sudipto Sen

Writer: Vipul Amrutlal Shah Sudipto Sen Suryapal Singh

Stars: Adah Sharma Yogita Bihani Siddhi Idnani Sonia Balani

Story

The Kerala Story - set in the southern state of Kerala - has been criticized by many opposition politicians, with some calling it propaganda and an attempt to destroy religious harmony.

But it has received support from leaders of the governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who praised it at a recent political rally. Some party members have also hosted screenings and distributed free tickets.

The film has got poor reviews from many mainstream critics who have lambasted its performances and "lack of nuance" - one wrote that the film's "thoughts about Islam and [religious] conversion seem to have been sourced from hate-filled WhatsApp groups".

But its performance at the box office has been "extraordinary" for a film with a small budget and no big stars, analyst Taran Adarsh told the BBC. According to his estimates, it has earned more than 560m rupees ($6.8m, £5.4m) in five days, which he calls "a feat for any new release".

The Kerala Story has drawn comparisons with The Kashmir Files, another sharply polarizing movie that became one of last year's biggest hits from Bollywood. That film - on the exodus of Hindus from Kashmir in the 1990s - was again made on a small budget, had no big stars, and received praise from Mr Modi and other BJP leaders though it got middling reviews.

The movie faced legal challenges and mounting criticism in April as its release date approached. The Kerala high court refused to stay the release, but the film's makers agreed to remove the teaser, which gave the contentious figure of 32,000 women. Its description on YouTube was also changed to "the compilation of the true stories of three young girls from different parts of Kerala".

In 2021, after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, Indian officials had said that four women from Kerala who had joined the IS were in jail there. A police official from Kerala told the BBC last year on condition of anonymity that "there are not more than 10-15 women who have got converted and left to join the IS from Kerala since 2016".

After the film's release, it was praised by many supporters who said it dealt with an important issue that deserved to be discussed. Two state governments - Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, both governed by the BJP - have made the film tax-free.