MapsofIndia.com/MyIndia.in Rating: 3/5
Directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the Kerala Story is based on Kerala and inspired by actual events. It follows the story of girls being converted to Islam by extremist groups. The movie stars Adah Sharma (Shalini aka Fatima Ba), Yogita Binani (Nimah), Siddhi Idnani (Geetanjali), and Sonia Balani (Asifa Ba). It was released on 5th May across the country.
Plot
The movie begins with the view of Fatima in chains at an incarceration centre of the UN, brought in for interrogation after she was rescued from the Trat desert by UN peacekeeping forces. The movie is a narration by Fatima, aka Shalini telling her story and her college mates who were entrapped in a nexus between ISIS and local extremist groups of Kerala. It follows the story of Shalini, and Geetanjali, both from Hindu families, with the latter’s father being a believer in communism, and Nimah, a Catholic girl; all of these bright young minds from different parts of Kerala join the Nursing School in hopes of living the excite of college life and fulfilling their dreams. Their fourth roommate in a hostel, Asifa Ba, is linked to an extremist group monitoring in Kerala. It converts girls to Islam and sends them across the border to Syria and Afghanistan, producing human suicide bombers. With the help of her male companions, Asifa begins with her agenda of brainwashing these girls through various well-thought plotting.
The male companions strive to make these girls fall for them and eventually execute the conversion. The story escalates to Shalini being pregnant, and seeing the opportunity, Asifa pushes the thought of marriage and conversion to Shalini. With the fear of unacceptance from a family already crippling her mind, Shalini thinks it to be the only viable option and agrees. Shalini and Geetanjali both process this conversion, but Nimah puts up a fight, which ends up in her being gang raped.
After considerable training, Fatima is sent to Sri Lanka to propagate Islam with her Mujahideen spouse. Finding herself stuck in some remote land of Herat, Afghanistan scourged with the terror of fundamentalists, suspicion grows strong in Shalini’s mind, and she begins her escape quest. Somewhere near the border of Turkey-Iran, she plans an escape with two other women, who unfortunately get killed. Still, Shalini manages to escape and is finally rescued by UN forces. With no record of her previous life present and all reasons pointing to her having been guilty of being a terrorist, she is sentenced to imprisonment.
Performances
The goal of portraying the character of Shalini as a helpless, gullible young girl did come to life with Adah Sharma’s acting. Sonia Balani managed to bring out the villainized factor in her role, which could provoke genuine dislike for the character among the audience.
Analysis
The movie’s music direction was commendable, with the thundering and symphonic sound effects backing up every thrilling scene act. Somewhere between the harrowing storyline and gut-wrenching scene, the writing lacked the essence of making it exceptional. The movie holds your attention because of the controversial storyline, but the writing can set you off.
Verdict
Ever since the release of its teaser or trailer, the movie has been under constant light of controversy. The movie portrays the madness of fundamentalist groups who go to disgusting extents to put forth their agenda. Somewhere, the directors followed the same technique of exaggerating reality to bring out their agenda. The facts in the movie are claimed to be construed inappropriately. However, the events in the story have real-life veracity, which makes it a must-watch for everyone to understand the gravity of a rising issue.
