'Cannot Rely On WhatsApp Forwards...': Sudipto Sen on not directing 'The Kerala Story 2'; decoding the controversy of the first film amid sequel

The producer, albeit with a new director, is coming out with a sequel that claims to go beyond. The trailer is out and creating the kind of debate that happened around the first film too. Director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah came together for The Kerala Story three years back. It was a film that spoke about how naïveté is often taken advantage of and innocence becomes a tool for all the perpetrators to attack their victims.

The narrative spoke about a group of girls brainwashed into converting into Islam and embracing Hijab, and the repercussions in future. It became a runaway hit with more than Rs 250 crore at the box-office. The producer, albeit with a new director, is coming out with a sequel that claims to go beyond. The trailer is out in the public domain and creating the kind of debate that happened around the first film too.

Why is Sudipto Sen not directing the sequel? The filmmaker said in an interview with India Today, "For the first film, I researched the subject for 10 years. I could stand by every word and visual in that film. I f the sequel expands beyond Kerala into other states, I cannot rely on WhatsApp forwards or newspaper reports.

Sensitive subjects require deep research and long-term study. Without that foundation, I wouldn't feel responsible enough to direct it." Reality or propaganda? This is the one criticism that came The Kerala Story's way that it harps on propaganda. The makers stuck to what they showed and claimed it was all real and not even an iota of fiction.

Shah has broken his silence in an interview recently. He was quoted saying, "Whether someone calls us honest or a liar, it doesn't matter to us. But for those who have lived through these situations, whose lives have been destroyed, or whose family members' lives have been ruined, it makes a huge difference when this narrative is dismissed as false." "What shocks us is that when we make such a film or choose such a subject, yet even after hearing these stories, a certain lobby still seems to stand with those criminals. It is very sad because the issue is not just about a film, it is about our society, our country, and the daughters of our nation," the filmmaker added.

What Anurag Kashyap said about _The Kerala Story 2_ While interacting with the media, Anurag Kashyap slammed the sequel, calling it "bull** propaganda" and questioning the realism of a controversial scene. Reacting to the viral clip, he said, "Aisa kaun beef khilata hai? Aisa koi khichdi bhi nahi khilata hai."