The Kerala Story becomes 2nd highest grossing Hindi film of 2023 in India, mints ₹156.69 crore
2 min read . Updated: 17 May 2023, 12:52 PM IST
PremiumDirected by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, ‘The Kerala Story’ depicts how thousands of young women were allegedly brainwashed into joining the Islamic State (IS) and heading off to countries like Syria and Afghanistan.
The Kerala Story has become the second highest grossing Hindi film of 2023, trade analyst Taran Adarsh said on 17 May. He added that the film has claimed to the second spot after SRK starrer Pathaan and has overtaken Ranbir-Shraddha's Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and Salman Khan starrer Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.
So far the box office collection of the film in India is ₹156.69 crore.
In a tweet, he wrote, “The Kerala Story is now the SECOND HIGHEST GROSSING Hindi film of 2023… Overtakes TJMM and KBKJ to claim the second spot… [Week 2] Fri 12.35 cr, Sat 19.50 cr, Sun 23.75 cr, Mon 10.30 cr, Tue 9.65 cr. Total: ₹156.69 cr. "
As per the Adarsh, the top five films of 2023 currently are Pathaan, The Kerala Story, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and Bholaa. Reports have also stated that seeing the current numbers, the film is likely to surpass ₹200 crore in another week.
This numbers have comes despite a ban ordered in West Bengal and a de-facto ban in Tamil Nadu.
On May 8, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ordered a ban on the movie, calling it a “distorted story". On Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee government told the Supreme Court that the film is based on ‘manipulated facts’ and contains ‘hate speech’ that may hurt communal sentiments and cause disharmony between the communities which can lead to order issues in West Bengal. However, the Tamil Nadu government told SC that the government did not impose any shadow ban on the film and the theatres stopped screening the film due to its poor audience response.
Moreover, the film has been given tax-free status in BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana.
Directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, ‘The Kerala Story’ depicts how thousands of young women were allegedly brainwashed into joining the Islamic State (IS) and heading off to countries like Syria and Afghanistan.
Politicians of various hues weighed in with their views as they have done ever since the teaser released, provoking extreme statements from both sides of the divide. The BJP has supported the movie on women being forcefully converted to Islam and recruited by the ISIS, while opposition parties have accused the filmmakers of peddling hate. PM Modi credited the movie for bringing out terror conspiracies and used it to attack the Congress during an election rally in Karnataka.
"The Kerala Story" was initially portrayed as "unearthing" the events behind "approximately 32,000 women" allegedly missing from Kerala. This was subsequently changed to three.
(With inputs from agencies)