The 71st National Film Awards has sparked controversy by awarding Best Direction and Best Cinematography to Sudipto Sen’s film The Kerala Story. Released in 2023, the film was widely criticized for promoting a factually incorrect and propaganda-driven narrative. It portrayed a fictional mass conversion of Hindu women in Kerala to Islam, allegedly to be recruited by ISIS.
The filmmakers claimed the story was based on real events, but these claims were refuted by official government sources, court records, and Kerala police investigations. There was no evidence supporting the widely quoted figure of 32,000 missing women. Despite this, the National Awards Jury honored the film for addressing what it called a complex and urgent issue.
Many found the decision disturbing, especially since the film lacks factual credibility and incites communal fear. Critics pointed out that the narrative was overly dramatized, presenting selective facts to justify misleading claims. The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, strongly condemned the jury’s decision on the platform X, accusing the film of promoting hatred and misrepresenting the state’s identity.
He emphasized Kerala’s legacy of communal harmony and criticized the film for aligning with the divisive ideology of the Sangh Parivar. He called the award a grave insult to the state’s inclusive values. While some celebrated the recognition, others raised serious concerns about the lack of fact-checking in India’s most esteemed film awards.
In today’s media environment, where films can be weaponized to promote dangerous narratives, institutions have a responsibility to reject propaganda rather than reward it. Unfortunately, the jury’s decision signals the opposite.
Historically, award-winning political films in the 70s and 80s shed light on real, pressing issues. Films like Satyajit Ray’s Pratidwandi explored youth unemployment during political unrest in Kolkata; Mani Kaul’s Duvidha questioned traditional norms and women’s autonomy; and Govind Nihalani’s Aakrosh addressed police violence, exploitation, and systemic injustice.
Those films voiced public struggles, but today, political cinema is often used to amplify state-driven narratives. Instead of critiquing power, it now helps reinforce it. The Kerala Story may be remembered not for artistic merit, but for how it misused cinema to spread disinformation—and how it was rewarded for it.
