The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, which landed in multiple controversies for its skewed portrayal of religious conversions and exaggerated data, is now yet to find good deals for OTT platforms. Sudipto has alleged that the film industry “has ganged up to punish” the makers of the film. The film, starring Adah Sharma, was released on May 5 this year.
In an interview to rediff.com, Sudipto Sen has said that they have not received any suitable offers from any OTT platforms for the movie and that it was because the film was a box office success. “We are still waiting for a good deal from any of the main OTT platforms. But so far, we have not got any offer worth considering. Our box office success has irked many sections of the film industry. It seems that a section of the film industry has ganged up to punish us,” he alleged. According to reports, The Kerala Story has made more than Rs 230 crores at the box office.
The film’s teaser, which was released in November 2022, came into a controversy after actor Adah Sharma who plays the film’s central character was seen claiming that she was among the “32,000 girls who have already been converted and buried in the desert of Syria and Yemen.” Despite the makers not producing any factual evidence as proof for the numbers, the figure was mentioned in the film. The film inaccurately claims that 32,000 is the official statistic of women who went missing after being forcibly converted to Islam, while “the real number is as big as 50,000”. Later, after the court intervened, the makers backtracked and said that the numbers will be removed from their teaser.