The Kerala Story drops controversial '32000 girls converted' claim from synopsis, netizens mock makers over 'U-turn'

Controversial film The Kerala Story may be dialling down on its claims, at least that is what netizens believe after the film’s makers made a change in the synopsis in the description of its teaser trailer. The film has been accused of furthering communal divide through ‘false’ claims about religious conversion. At the heart of the controversy is a claim from the makers that 32,000 Indian women have been forcibly converted to Islam by ISIS.

On Tuesday, days before the release of the film, many netizens noticed that the synopsis of the film, listed in the description of the teaser trailer on YouTube, had been changed. Where earlier it had made the claim about the 32,000 women being converted, now it simply referred to three girls from Kerala – the three protagonists of the film.

After many screengrabs of both the versions were shared online, netizens mocked the makers over the change. One wrote, “First they denied this is propaganda and now they changed the text. What hypocrisy.” Another tweeted, “This U-turn shows there is no substance in their claims.” Many, who had supported the film’s makers earlier, expressed their disappointment too. “Why is this film bowing to the pressure from the liberals? So disappointed,” wrote one.

The story of Kerala changes.
First it was 32000 girls, now it’s 3 girls!!

Vilification of Kerala . pic.twitter.com/rfjK0YbOsq — Mini Nair (@minicnair) May 2, 2023

The Kerala Story, which claims to be based on true incidents, tells the story of Indian women being forced to convert to Islam by ISIS. The controversy lies in the film’s claim that 32,000 Indian women have been converted by the terror group in the last few years. Many have called out this figure, saying there is no evidential basis for it.

The film has come under criticism from Kerala CM as well as several other major political parties. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea that was seeking a stay on the release of the film. However, the controversy has meant that there is good buzz for the film.

On May 1, IMDB’s real-time popularity index of upcoming Indian titles had The Kerala Story on top with 34.5% of all page views. Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan was a distant second with 22.4% of votes, followed by Prabhas-starrer Adipurush with 15.1% of the votes.

The Kerala Story stars Adah Sharma, alongside Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, Pranay Pachuri and Chandra Shekhar Dutta. Produced Vipul Amrutlal Shah, and directed by Sudipto Sen, the film is all set to hit the theatres on the May 5.