The student group of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has strongly condemned the Union government’s decision to name the controversial movie The Kerala Story for best direction and cinematography for the 71st National Film Awards.
The 71st National Film Awards were announced on August 1 by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Shah Rukh Khan and Vikrant Massey were jointly awarded Best Actor for Jawan and 12th Fail, while Rani Mukerji won Best Actress for Mrs Chatterjee v/s Norway.
12th Fail won Best Film.
The big surprise came when the best direction and cinematography were awarded to Sudipto Sen and Prasantanu Mohapatra for The Kerala Story, which claims that women in the state are “lured in love” by Muslim men and forcibly converted to Islam and recruited by Islamic State.
Since the release of its trailer, the movie garnered strong criticism, with many political leaders and civil society denouncing it as a propaganda movie aimed at spreading false narratives and promoting communal disharmony in Kerala. The movie was released on May 5, 2023.
“The Kerala Story is not a film, it is a weapon,” read a release from the student body.
“The state (Union government) has once again made its position clear: it will reward propaganda disguised as cinema if it aligns with its majoritarian, hate-filled agenda. A falsified narrative aimed at vilifying the Muslim community and demonising an entire state that has historically stood for communal harmony, education, and resistance,” it said.
Cinema is not neutral, it is a powerful instrument of influence, it said, adding that the decision to award the film is “simply not disappointing, but dangerous”.
“When a government-endorsed body elevates a film that spreads misinformation and paranoia against minorities, it is not merely ‘recognising art’, it is legitimising violence. It is scripting future lynchings, social exclusion, and political othering,” the statement read.
The FTII students’ outfit further condemned the fact that cinema is being reduced to a tool of state-sponsored communalism.
“We refuse to accept that Islamophobia is now award-worthy. And we refuse to be silent as the industry we hope to enter is being reshaped to reward lies, bigotry, and fascist ideology. The state must understand: giving awards to propaganda does not make it true. And we, as students and citizens, will not stop calling it what it is-incitement. Violence,” it added.
Kerala chief minister had Pinarayi Vijayan also expressed his dismay at the announcement. He said that the state has always championed secularism and has been a beacon of harmony and resistance against communal forces.
“By honouring a film that spreads blatant misinformation with the clear intent of tarnishing Kerala’s image and sowing seeds of communal hatred, the jury of the #NationalFilmAwards has lent legitimacy to a narrative rooted in the divisive ideology of the Sangh Parivar,” his X post said.
