The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on May 9 announced that they will make ‘The Kerala Story’ tax-free. Uttar Pradesh becomes the second state to declare the film tax-free, after Madhya Pradesh. Notably, the movie is facing protests in several states and it is banned in West Bengal.
“‘The Kerala Story’ will be made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh,” the chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.
'The Kerala Story' उत्तर प्रदेश में टैक्स फ्री की जाएगी।
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) May 9, 2023
Amid rising protests across different states of India, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet is all set to watch the special screening of the film to be organised at Lok Bhawan, the chief minister’s secretariat said. On May 6, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan declared the movie tax-free, with this MP became the first state to do so.
“The film shows how the (life of) daughters who get entangled in the trap of love jihad get destroyed. It also exposes the design of terrorism”, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a video message.
“While we have already brought a law against (forced) conversion, the film creates awareness about the issue. This film should be watched by all and that’s why the Madhya Pradesh government is declaring the film tax-free,” he added.
आतंकवाद की भयावह सच्चाई को उजागर करती फिल्म 'The Kerala Story' मध्यप्रदेश में टैक्स फ्री की जा रही है। pic.twitter.com/l5oizjqK7j
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) May 6, 2023
UP BJP secretary Raghvendra Mishra had recently shown the film to 100 girl students in Lucknow.
Last year, the UP CM had also watched Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ at a special screening after declaring the movie tax-free in the state.
Notably, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand is likely to declare the Adah Sharma-starrer film tax-free in the state.
During the Karnataka assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also supported the film as he said, “The movie ‘The Kerala Story’ is trying to expose the consequences of terrorism in society, especially in a state like Kerala which is a beautiful land of hardworking, talented and intellectual people. The Congress party is now trying to ban the film and support the terror elements”, Modi said at a poll rally in Ballari last week.
It is pertinent to mention that, the Trinamool Congress government banned the film in West Bengal on May 8. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “West Bengal govt has decided to ban the movie The Kerala Story. This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state”.
While taking a dig at ‘The Kashmir Files’, the Chief Minister stated, “What was ‘The Kashmir Files’? It was meant purely to humiliate a particular section of society. What is ‘The Kerala Story’? It is a distorted story”. The CM instructed the state chief secretary to withdraw the film from all theatres where it was playing.
The film’s producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, reacted to the ban and said they would seek legal recourse to challenge the State Government’s decision. Shah said, “If the state government won’t listen to us, we will explore legal avenues. However, whatever course we take will be based on legal advice,”
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar slammed the ruling TMC government’s move and claimed Mamata Banerjee wants to “close her eyes to the reality”.
The BJP leader said, “CM Mamata Banerjee has banned the movie ‘The Kerala Story. Nothing to surprise, it was expected of her. It is based on true stories and shows how Islamists trap Hindu girls into Love Jihad and later send them to become ISIS terrorists. Didi wants to close her eyes to the reality.”
“She wants to deprive the people of WB, especially women of this harsh reality. The cases of Love Jihad are common in WB. WB has led the way of the country whenever the need arises. Her decision is the opposite of that. By banning, she has proved again there is no FoE in WB. Shame!” he added.
West Bengal | Banning this (The Kerala Stroy) film shows the hypocrisy of CM Mamata Banerjee. They criticized us once over the documentary on PM stating that there is freedom of speech. Now where is the freedom of speech? Why the government of Bengal has banned the film? This… pic.twitter.com/fq2emM69WJ
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2023
It is pertinent to note that the movie’s collections raked in a decent amount even though its screenings were cancelled, on the opening day, in several Kerala districts after protests against the movie.
The film has made around Rs 35.25 crore, and it is just the third day and is expected to make more in the coming days, as per the trade analysts.
