Kerala Congress leader MM Hassan on Tuesday called for a ban on the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ and claimed that it would create communal divisions in society.

“The movie ‘The Kerala Story’ is produced as part of a Sangh Parivar propaganda. Its impression is to create communal divisions in society. This movie will destroy the secular image of Kerala in the world. So we call for a ban on ‘The Kerala Story’. The producer and the director are claiming that it is their creative freedom and justifying this. But it doesn’t mean that in that name they will spread lies and communalise society”, Hassan said. He further called upon the Kerala government to take the initiative and register case against the makers of the film.

“Kerala government should take the initiative and we demand that IPC 153 A be charged against the makers. And this should be banned with regard to spreading communal hatred,” Hassan added.

Hassan further said that another drama ‘Kakkukali’ is played in several places, which allegedly harms the feelings of the Christian community in the state and should also be banned.

Amid the ongoing controversy over the ‘The Kerala Story’ film, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stressed that he wasn’t calling for a ban on the film but it is a misrepresentation of the state’s reality.

This comes on the heels of his remark that the film may be “your” Kerala story but not “our” Kerala story.

“Let me stress, I am not calling for a ban on the film. Freedom of expression does not cease to be valuable just because it can be misused. But Keralites have every right to say loud and clear that this is a misrepresentation of our reality,” Tharoor tweeted.

While Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a statement on Sunday that the movie was deliberately made with the aim of communal polarisation and to spread hate propaganda against Kerala.

‘The Kerala Story’ has become a topic for discussion around the numbers being exaggerated in the trailer of the film.

Helmed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the film is all set to hit the theatres on May 5, 2023.

‘The Kerala Story’ stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in the lead roles.

The trailer of Sen’s film ‘The Kerala Story’ came under fire as it claimed that 32,000 girls from the state went missing and later joined the terrorist group, ISIS.