Review – The Kerala Story

The Kerala Story is a film that has created a sensation of sorts with its release. The shocking truths that the film has showcased has become controversial. Directed by Sudipto Sen and starring Adah Sharma, Siddhi Idhnani, and Sonia Balani, this film is produced by Vipul Shah.

Plot

Shalini Unnikrishnan (Adah Sharma), Nimah (Yogita Bihani), and Siddhi Idnani (Geetanjali) are students from a nursing college in Kerala. They share their room with Asifa (Sonia Balani) who is in turn an ISIS agent. Her mission is to brainwash non-Muslim girls and convert them to Islam. Asifa lands two young men in the lives of Shalini and Nimah and makes a plan to convert them into Muslims and take them to Syria as sex slaves. How does all this unravel and how the girls face crazy issues in this conspiracy forms the story of The Kerala Story.

Performances

The Kerala Story has fab performances. All these days, Adah Sharma is known as this glamor doll but she stuns everyone with her performance. The way she plays a Kerala girl, her diction, and the emotions she shows is superb. Sidhhi Idnani is also amazing in her role and emotes well. Sonaia Balani, who plays the ISIS agent was so good in her role which gave her a lot of scope to perform. Yogita Bihani was also neat in her given role. The supporting cast of Vijay Krishna, Pranav Mishra, and Pranay Pachauri did their roles convincingly.

Technicalities

The production values of the film are top notch. The locations chosen in Syria, the college backdrop, house locations are showcased superbly by the cameraman. The music by Viresh Sreevalsa, Bisakh Jyoti was amazing and even better was the BGM. The screenplay is one of the highlights as the film moves back and front in time and has been showcased in an impressive manner. Editing was also crisp but the dialogues were quite impressive.

What’s Good

Adah Sharma’s performances

Exciting Narration

Dialogues and Screenplay

What’s Bad

Excess of violence

Too many cinematic liberties

Analysis

The Kerala Story is not for all sections. The way the religion of Islam is showcased will not go well with Muslims for sure. On the other hand, the makers say that the film is inspired by true events when close to 32,000 Non-Muslim Indian girls from Kerala who were brainwashed, converted, impregnated, sent to terror camps, raped, and ended up as sex slaves in ISIS camps in Syria and Afghanistan.

The Kerala story shows a lot of violence. The rape culture, chopping of hands, beheading and trauma caused to innocent women is shown in a brutal manner. The locations are real and the incidents showcased and the way young women are trapped and made to convert into Islam will shock you for sure. Though there are no scenes that depict Islam in a bad light, the film is a direct take on what happens behind closed doors and how innocent women in Kerala are being converted into Islam.

The scenes that showcase the way these girls are brainwashed have been written quite well. Upon this, the sincere performances also hold the attention. The Kerala Story has been made in an uncompromising manner and there are some scenes that will surely move you. One of the biggest assets of the film is the emotions which are on point.

In The Kerala Story, there is no time to relax as the film has serious issues told in a brutal manner. The Kashmir Files was one film which had its own storytelling and agenda and the same happens with The Kerala Story as well. Some will like it immensely and the others will have reservations watching it. But in reality, the film is a hard hitting drama told in a brutal manner.

Bottom Line- Brutal and Hard