The Kerala Story Director Sudipto Sen Introduces Young Women Who Became The Movie’s Inspiration

New Delhi: At a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, director Sudipto Sen disclosed the true source of inspiration for his controversial film, ‘The Kerala Story’. The encounter with the young women who had survived religious conversion in Kerala and were being looked after by the Aarsha Vidya Samajam Ashram was a highlight of the press conference. Sen stated that the inspiration for the movie came from these young women.

“Their number is too many in our country, but few of them are with us here today, and I want to honor them all,” Sen said.

“I will introduce Shruti, Chitra and Adhira. The first time I met Shruti in a small village she didn’t have electricity in her house, because they had cut off the supply. And every time she would go out to purchase vegetables, people would snatch away her bag. I had to interview them through a tiny little partition in their house because they were scared to come out,” he added.

“People have misused these girls and forced them into a life of desolation, and that was my inspiration to make this film,” the director concluded.

Producer of ‘The Kerala Story’, Vipul Shah, announced an initiative aimed at helping 300 alleged victims of religious conversion at an ashram on Wednesday and contributed Rs 51 lakh to the cause.

“This is not about any religion. Not Hindu, Muslim or Christian. It is about three girls who represent the sufferings of thousands of girls. It was not about showing a few Hindus or Muslims in a good light. Each and every word and visual we have spoken or shown, it is correct. How far it is correct, you can cross question with them (alleged victims on stage),” he said.

The drama is currently the second-highest-grossing Hindi movie of 2023. On its 12th day, the Adah Sharma-starrer film brought in Rs 9.65 crore, taking the total to Rs 156.69 crore.

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