Director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Shah, the makers of the Kerala Story, have announced their next project Bastar. According to the filmmakers, Bastar is based on true incident and is scheduled to release on April 5, 2024. The film’s poster shows shows a forest amidst huge clouds of smoke. A red flag on one side and rifle on the other side was also seen in the poster.

Film enthusiasts commented on the tweet shared by Sunshine pictures, announcing the next project. One fan requested the makers to cast Vidyut Jamwal in the film. Another fan said he will be eagerly waiting for the film to release. The fan hoped that this movie will be equally hard hitting in terms of exposing the truth. He congratulated the team in staying united in facing the industry backlash for the Kerala Story.

The Kerala Story, which released on May 5 2023, is written and directed by Sudipto Sen. The Kerala Story stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in lead roles. It is produced by Vipul Shah and crossed 200 crores at the box office. The controversy on the Kerala story started since its trailer release. The film had claimed that more than 32000 women from Kerala has been converted to Islam and had joined the terrorist organization ISIS. Later the figure was deleted from the trailer.

The Kerala Story sparked a political row with many calling it a propaganda film. Celebrities’ like Kangana Ranaut, Ram Gopal Verma and Vivek Agnihotri came out in its defence. On the other hand, some celebrities’ like Naseeruddin Shah and Kamal Haasan expressed their displeasure with the film. The West Bengal government briefly banned the screening of the film.

Talking to the media, Sudipto Sen said no political party should have spoken against the Kerala story. He expressed that he had never prepared for the backlash. He said he was prepared for the reaction and opposition. He asserted that he never expected a political debate on the subject.

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The makers of The Kerala Story claimed that India had been in “denial” of the existence of the “long existing issue” in Kerala as the controversial film was released in over 200 theatres in the United States and Canada on Friday.

Speaking to a group of Indian American reporters during a virtual presser, Sudipto Sen, the director of the polarising film called  The Kerala Story a “mission” and a “movement” which must reach masses across the world to raise awareness.

Sen claimed that India had been in denial of the “long existing issue” in Kerala and his film is the first to shed light on the subject.

The film’s producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah voiced similar thoughts saying that the subject that is “exposed’ in The Kerala Story has been hidden from the people and deserved to be told, adding that they made the movie to initiate a worldwide deliberation on the Kerala issue.

Vipul Shah termed The Kerala Story a “very bold, honest and true” film that got no support in the beginning but has witnessed blockbuster-level success within a mere week of its release and now stands on the verge of a worldwide release.

‘The Kerala Story’ has sparked a massive controversy since its first trailer—which claimed that 32,000 women from the state were converted to Islam and recruited by global terror group Islamic State—  hit the screens in November last year.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who has vehemently opposed the film, recently termed it as a “deliberately produced” piece of Sangh Parivar propaganda aimed to create communal divide and spread hatred among Hindus and Muslims in the state.

The film was issued an ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and told to delete 10 scenes, including an interview with a former chief minister of Kerala, ahead of its theatrical release.

The BJP has vociferously backed the Sudipto Sen directorial with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising the film for “exposing a terror conspiracy” and accusing the Congress of “siding with terrorists” and trying to appease them for political gain by opposing the film’s release.

BJP chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Yogi Adityanath have declared the film tax-free in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

Meanwhile, the opposition has vehemently opposed the Adah Sharma-starrer, dubbing it as a piece of Sangh Parivar-backed propaganda piece aimed to stir communal tensions and polarize the BJP’s vote bank ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee banned the screening of the controversial Bollywood film in the state, while on May 7 (Sunday), multiplexes in Tamil Nadu had stopped screenings of the ‘The Kerala Story’ citing law and order threats and poor response to the movie from the audience in the southern state.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea challenging the Kerala High Court’s interim order which refused to ban the release of Adah Sharma-starrer. The hearing is listed on May 15.

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