The radicalization and trafficking of gullible girls to germinate terror is a story waiting to be told. But the way director Sudipto Sen tells The Kerala Story, after years of research, is more burlesque than a candid description of the problem. More like a companion piece to The Kashmir Files, the film maintains a divisive tone and the look is emotionally exploitative. Like the fans of the film, it seems that the filmmakers are interested in turning the audience into hatemongers and expressing themselves in society.
Said to be based on true stories of how innocent non-Muslim girls are recruited into the Islamic State, it follows three nursing students in Kerala who are brainwashed by an extremist group into thinking their gods are no good and only Islam can be the guiding light. Drawn by love and twisted logic, the girls get caught up in a heinous game where they become cannon fodder in a supposed clash of civilizations.
Directors: Sudipto Sen, Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Writers: Suryapal Singh, Sudipto Sen, Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Stars: Pranav Misshra, Sonia Balani, Yogita Bihani
Shalini or Fatima Ba (Adah Sharma) is one of those girls who converts and is sent to Syria with her husband to fight for the cause of the Islamic State. Trapped and imprisoned in Afghanistan, she tells her story in a flashback where she and her two classmates, Geetanjali (Siddhi Idnani) and Nimah (Yogita Bihani), were tempted to join the mission by another classmate, Asifa ( Sonia Balani). While Shalni succumbs, the other two have to bear the brunt of resisting the sinister plot.
While the premise demands attention and emotional investment, the treatment is guided more and more by local politics than cinematic savvy. There are a few poignant moments, but for the most part, it's the gullible girls eager to buy the propaganda or sly creatures with Muslim names; there is no voice of sanity, and the nuances are nowhere to be found. With so much pain on paper, the treatment demanded a soft, subtle touch, but Sen seems keen to get the message across throughout.
Long passages on the art of indoctrination numb the senses, for the creators' understanding of Islam, Communism, or any other ideology sounds as crude as the villains in the piece's understanding of Hinduism and Christianity. Thoughts about Islam and conversion seem to come from hate-filled WhatsApp groups. Adult certificate in hand, Sen leaves little to the imagination as he depicts brutality to garner an emotional response from the audience.
Interestingly, the writers do not posit the narrative on the complex geopolitical issues of who created the Islamic State and why his heart is not bleeding for the cause of Palestine. He's busy beheading women for wearing lipstick in pockets where there's a political vacuum, instead of taking on the big shot. It does not provide space for the opinion of many scholars and experts who often ask what prevented Indian Muslims from joining the Islamic State. Instead, towards the end, The Kerala Story continues to extrapolate the numbers by selling half-truths.
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