BY Chaitanya Padukone| Charming lead actress Adah Sharma who has been highly

appreciated for her intensive award-

worthy performance as the victim who goes thru so much physical and mental torture in the

‘The Kerala Story’ had tears in her eyes as she spoke to me.

“ My biggest award at present is the overwhelming audience appreciation, support and sympathy for The Kerala Story.

Despite the biased protests and criticism from some people, the  box-office figures ( Rs 165 crores plus) also  speak for itself,”

reacted actress-classical danseuse  Adah Sharma who has three more new projects coming up this year

Sunshine Pictures:

In order to add maximum credibility as an authentic ‘eye-opener’,  to their volatile yet sensitive released

(“Sunshine Pictures” ) film producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah ( director of landmark 2002 ‘movie ‘Aankhen’ fame)  and director Sudipto Sen,  of the blockbuster movie “The Kerala Story,” showcased 26 victims of alleged Islamic radicalization-conversion at a press conference held in Mumbai on Wednesday evening .

This was in the presence of the lead female cast of the movie including  Adah Sharma (Shalini), Yogita Bihani ( Nimah), Sonia Balani( Asifa)  and Siddhi Idnani ( Gitanjali)

These 26 women were specially brought from Kerala to Rang Sharda Hall in Bandra (Mumbai), where they were presented before the media. Shruti, one of the women actively associated with Aarsha Vidya Samajam, ( headed by founder Yogacharya Sri K R Manoj-jee) revealed that their Samajam organization has successfully re-integrated over 7,000 women back into the Hindu faith in Kerala.

Non-Muslim Women Being Forcibly Converted to Islam ?

In response to criticism regarding the claim of non-Muslim women being forcibly converted to Islam, Shah stated that more realistic details are steadily surfacing following the movie’s release. “This press conference marks the beginning of an effort to substantiate the claim of large-scale conversions of women to Islam, not just in Kerala but across the nation,” Vipul Shah stated. The altruistic Vipul-bhai also announced a donation of Rs 51 lakhs to the Aarsha Samajam to support their  recently launched “Protect Our Daughters” campaign. Vipul Shah urged every Indian to watch “The Kerala Story” in the nearest cinema-theatres with their families. The ‘Commando’ series movie producer emphasized that the film isn’t solely about three girls who were converted and radicalized but also sheds light on the fate of thousands of other victimized women across India.

The Kerala Story; Main aapko ek simple baat share karta hoon

Vipul Shah reacted with an emotional outburst as he responded to criticism that his negative characters were from a particular  religion., “Main aapko ek simple baat share karta hoon.  Sholay (1975) mein Gabbar Singh villain hai. Does that mean director Ramesh Sippy is against the Singh community? Jab bhi koi film kuch bure logon ki baat karti hai, toh har waqt toh usse kisi religion se nahin jodte hai. In Singham Returns (2014), the villain was a priest. Does that mean the makers were trying to villainize the Hindu saints and the Hindu community? Of course not. That’s a screen-character in that film. Similarly, in our film, certain characters are terrorists. Why can’t we say that ‘this film is mainly against terrorism…let’s applaud it’?  Instead, we are trying to insist that ‘yeh film toh ki community ikay  taraf ishara kar rahi hai’.”

The Kerala Story: But kisi aur film mein aapne yeh sawaal nahin utthaaya?

Vipul Shah continued, “While making the film, we took extreme care that we don’t demonize any religion and community.

We are also against the perpetrators and that’s what we have highlighted.

This film is about these innocent

girls whose lives were destroyed.

It’s a democracy. Everybody has the right to disagree and voice their opinion. But kisi aur film mein aapne yeh sawaal nahin utthaaya? Har film ka villain kisi na kisi religion se belong karta hai. There can’t be a villain who doesn’t belong to any religion. How many times have you raised this question? Then why ask this question today? Why can’t we focus on these victimized women ? That is a much bigger question that we need to ask.”

The Kerala Story wasn’t targeted at Islam

Meanwhile movie director Sudipto Sen clarified that their film

“The Kerala Story’ wasn’t targeted at Islam but aimed to address the recurring prevalent threat of terrorism,

which poses a significant danger to the nation. Shruti, a victim of Islamic conversion herself,

emphasized that love-jihaad is a harsh reality that cannot be ignored.

She stated that their organization frequently encounters unsuspecting women who

are manipulated and compelled to adopt an “anti-humanistic” ideology. Out of the

7,000 women reconverted to Hinduism, 26 have dedicated their lives to preventing

other women from falling into the trap of love jihad.

Sudipto Sen also clarified that “The Kerala Story” is not at all anti-Muslim The movie is not confined to Hindus, Muslims,

or Christians but represents the struggles of numerous gullible girls and ladies who are enticed and brainwashed.

Every Adult has a right to choose their religion and voluntarily get converted if they wish to

But what is dangerous trend is  that the girls or boys are forcibly converted into Islamic religion and some of them are forcibly exploited

as ‘sex-slaves’ or trained and inducted into anti-national terrorism after being brain-washed.

Some of the girls present on the stage had their faces covered to protect their identities.

The Kerala Story:

The Kerala Story movie effectively attempts to deal with  a sensitive socially-detrimental agenda and a strong topic to discuss but in the most disturbing way. The film is centered around the alleged radicalisation and conversion of young Hindu women to Islam in Kerala, after which they are allegedly forced to join foreign terrorist-outfits and turn into suicide bombers or sex slaves, which isn’t less than eye-opening. The film also strikes a conversation about how communism and religion are used to instill fear in people and how they’re brainwashed.