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The story of Kerala may have gone with two major honors at the 71st National Film Awards, the best director for Sudeepto Sen and the best cinematography for Prasantanu Mohapatra, but not everyone had a compromise in the jury. In an interview with Manorama, Jury member and filmmaker Pradeep Nair has now revealed that he strongly opposed the selection of the film, called it “promotion” that saves the state of Kerala. However, their objections which were eventually rejected by the rest of the panel.
Pradeep Nair on increasing objections against Kerala’s story
Pradeep, who was part of the 11-member jury for the feature film category, revealed that Kerala’s story was chosen by majority votes despite his strong opposition. He said, “As a Malayali on the panel, I raised serious objections. I questioned how a film that discredits a state like Kerala and acts as a promotion, can be considered for national honor,” he said.
He said that his objections were rejected by other jury members, “I directly expressed my concerns to the jury chairperson. However, I was only the one who had labeled it as a publicity. Others argued that even though it was controversial, it addressed a relevant social issue.”
Christo Tommy’s Ulozuku was also in dispute for the best direction, but was passed in favor of Kerala’s story. Pradeep revealed that some jury members rejected Ulozuku as “just a family drama” in comparison to what the “social urgency” of Kerala’s story was seen. Ullozhukku went to win the best Malayalam film and Best Supporting Actress for Urvashi.
About Kerala’s story
The story of Kerala became an electric rod for a controversy over its release. Directed by Sudeepto Sen and produced by Vipul Shah, the film follows a group of women from Kerala, which is forced to convert to Islam and join the Islamic State. The producers claimed that the film was inspired by real -life events and alleged that 32,000 women from Kerala were radical and recruited by ISIS.
However, the Kerala government said that the claims were baseless and accused the film of spreading misinformation. The film faced calls for a ban in states like West Bengal, while other states, such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, made it tax-free.
Despite widespread criticism and backlash, the film, which is characterized by Adha Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani and Siddhi Idnani, earned. Become 302 crore and box office success worldwide.
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