Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas while questioning the makers of the Hindutva propaganda movie “The Kerala Story,” said that cinema is one of the most powerful mediums to give out a message and it should not be misused.
“Cinema can be fiction. Nothing wrong in making a fictional movie but naming it The Kerala Story, no that is not the Kerala story. I’ll not admit it, that’s not the story of Kerala. I know that. I am born and raised in Kerala and that is not the Kerala story,” he said in an interview with Indian Express.
Tovino has reacted and spoken up about the claims made in the film. The actor stated that since facts and figures were changed by the makers, the film’s story cannot be generalised to Kerala, where he is from.
Sudipto Sen’s ‘The Kerala Story’ is presented as an exposé of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of an estimated 32,000 women in the southern state. However, the film falsely claims that these women had converted to radical ideologies and were subsequently utilized in terrorist activities across India and beyond.
The claim about 32,000 ISIS recruitments in the movie was challenged by several Muslim groups and both ruling and opposition parties in Kerala. Many who are seeking action against the film, called the movie “a Hindutva propaganda” and “a clear form Islamophobia.”
He said, “32000, later they changed it, but in the first place why did they mention 32000? We all know that 32000 was a fake figure, now it has been changed to three. What does that mean? I don’t want to state anything but people will understand. I want people to stop believing blindly. Whatever it is, we all are human beings. We all have the same brain capacity, so stop believing anything blindly. Even if I say something, don’t believe it blindly. Think! You have a brain so think and decide. It is 2023, we are supposed to stop believing blindly and start thinking, rationalising. Don’t let anybody feed misinformation to you.”
The actor said, “See, I haven’t watched that movie (The Kerala Story) yet and I haven’t spoken to anyone who has watched the movie. I saw the trailer. Its description said ‘32000 women…’ And then they (the makers) themselves changed it from 32000 to 3. What does that mean? As far as I know there are 35 million people in Kerala and with these three incidents nobody can generalise it. I’ll not deny the fact that this happened in Kerala. This might have happened. I don’t personally know it but I have read it in news. Today whatever we see are not facts, just opinions. On five different channels we see the same news in five different versions. So, I don’t know what is right and what is wrong but I have heard these opinions. So, I’ll not deny the fact that this happened. But three out of 35 million — cannot be generalised and giving misinformation is very bad.”
He went on to say: “I think cinema can give out good messages. At least we can try to not give out bad messages. Cinema is an entertainment medium. Entertainment can change people’s minds. If someone is stressed and they get stress relief by watching a movie then I believe that cinema’s purpose is served. Cinema is one of the most influential art forms, one of the most powerful mediums in today’s world. So we have an option to give a very strong message to the audience and that should be taken as a responsibility. Cinema is a much purer form of art. It should not be misused.”
Kerala Story is considered part of the new trend in Indian films that endorsed the conspiracy theories of the Hindutva ecosystem. The Kashmir Files, a film on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits also faced similar pushback for inaccurate claims and vilified depiction of Muslims.
The film has received support from the Bharatiya Janata Party with Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoking it during his poll rally in Karnataka.
