71st National Film Awards: 'Kerala Story' wins twice, despite controversy around its release

The 71st edition of the National Film Awards turned heads after controversial film 'The Kerala Story' bagged two of the biggest awards at the ceremony.

Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film won the Best Direction and Best Cinematography awards.

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The film, co-written by Sen, is apparently based on the story of a group of young men and women that moved to Syria to join the Islamic State between 2016 and 2018. 

The citation for the film described it as one that brings to light a "deeply complex and urgent social issue with the utmost sensitivity, cinematic precision, and commitment to storytelling with conviction and technical finesse".

Often said to have a distinctly North-Indian lens on the issue, 'The Kerala Story' follows the lives of three women protagonists from Kerala, portrayed as victims of ‘love jihad’.

This term refers to a discredited conspiracy theory which claims that Muslim men are luring Hindu women into marriages by seduction, kidnapping, or marriage, in order to convert them to Islam and bring about Muslim dominance over the Hindus in India. 

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Soon after its release on May 5, 2023, the film faced widespread criticism for majorly amplifying the number of women from Kerala who were allegedly joining the ISIS—as many as 32,000, it claimed—which was discredited by a filing from the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

Despite the film's poor reviews from mainstream critics, who attacked its performances, "lack of nuance", and potential to cause communal tensions, the film performed well at the box office, highlighting the unique impact of buzz—be it good or bad—on the box office.

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