The Kerala Story producer Vipul Shah has reacted to his film finally playing in West Bengal theatres after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on the movie last week. On May 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared a ban on The Kerala Story in the state “to avoid any incident of hatred and violence."
The film, starring Adah Sharma, hit theatres on May 5 amid major controversy and multiple petitions challenging its release. It revolves around a Hindu woman from Kerala who is converted to Islam and trafficked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Now, in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, producer Vipul Shah has claimed that his film is still not getting screens in West Bengal. He alleged that the police officials and authorities are threatening theatre owners and warning them that their licenses will not be renewed if they screen The Kerala Story.
“The problem is that in spite of the Supreme Court order, the theatre owners in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are not able to run the film. They are getting threat calls from cops and authorities that if they showcase this film, their licenses will not be renewed, the goons will attack theatres and they will not get protection. So the film is not running in theatres yet. This is happening in two states who claim to be the champions of democracy. They have disregarded Supreme Court’s order," he told us.
“We can’t do anything more. We have done everything under the law, whatever was possible. Supreme Court gave a very strong order protecting the film and stopping the ban, now it is up to the audience of these two states to raise their voice and compel the government to show them the film," the producer added.
Vipul Shah further claimed that there’s hardly ‘one or two’ theatres screening The Kerala Story in West Bengal and argued that even “they don’t know when they will be forced to shut it."
Shah revealed that he has himself spoken to several theatre owners in West Bengal, who informed him that people in the state are eager to watch the Adah Sharma starrer.
“What an individual can do is very limited when you are threatened that your license will not be renewed. For one film, he (theatre owners) is not going to risk his entire business. They succumb under the pressure," Shah said.
“We can only request Supreme Court to take a Suo-moto cognizance against the state government and tell them to leave this ego and let the film be released," the producer concluded.