Opinion | From The Kerala Story to Padmaavat: Film-related Controversies Are The New Normal

Few films face legal challenges for broadly understandable reasons. However, not every film that becomes controversial without running into legal trouble has hard-hitting subject.

Kamakhya Narayan Singh’s The Kerala Story 2 cast a stone into still waters moments after the trailer’s release. At the time of writing, the Kerala High Court’s Division Bench has reportedly stayed, for two weeks, the interim order issued by a single judge that had stalled the film’s release for 15 days.

Responding to the appeal filed by the film’s producer, Vipul Amritlal Shah, against the interim stay, the bench held that it had been passed without watching the entire film. It added that since the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had watched the film and granted U/A certification, it must be presumed that the authority had followed the applicable guidelines.

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Earlier, an interim stay had been issued after the court heard petitions challenging the film’s certification and seeking a stay on its release. The single judge directed the CBFC to review its decision regarding certification and also observed that the content had prima facie potential to ‘disturb communal harmony’ and ‘distort public perception.’ It also stated that the use of the word “Kerala" in the title could lead viewers to ‘identify the state as a hub of fanatical and communal division.’

This is not the first time a film has been embroiled in legal troubles. And, rest assured, this won’t be the last time either.

CONTROVERSIAL PREQUEL

The Kerala Story 2 has revived memories of its controversial prequel, Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story, which had made headlines because of its theme of forced conversion of women from Kerala, their radicalisation and recruitment into ISIS. The film encountered legal hurdles – not surprising – and the Supreme Court directed the makers to carry disclaimers clarifying that the film is a fictionalised depiction and there is no evidence to endorse the claim that 32,000 women from the state were forcibly converted and recruited into ISIS.

Although most critics called the film Islamophobic and badly made, the film, produced with a reported budget of Rs 15-20 crore, went on to gross over Rs 300 crore, making it a sleeper blockbuster. Did the controversy contribute to the film’s success? It certainly did.

FILMS AND LEGAL CHALLENGES

History shows that quite a few Hindi films have run into legal challenges, among them Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files (2022). Petitions were filed in courts, stating that the film could hurt religious sentiments and disturb communal harmony. Martyred Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna’s widow Shalini Khanna filed a lawsuit, alleging that a scene referring to her husband misrepresented facts. The court restrained the makers from releasing the film until the scene and facts in question were removed or appropriately modified.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical drama Padmaavat (2018), based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem, faced legal and extra-legal challenges. Protests spearheaded by members of the Rajput group Karni Sena alleged that the film distorted facts and besmirched the image of Queen Padmavati. Several state governments banned the film’s release before the Supreme Court cleared it for nationwide release. Also, the makers changed the film’s title from Padmavati to Padmaavat, which aptly explained that it was based on Jayasi’s poem.

High drama preceded the release of Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab (2016). The CBFC sought 89 cuts, removal of the word ‘Punjab’, and deletion of references to cities in the state. After a petition filed by the film’s co-producer Phantom Films, the Bombay High Court permitted the film’s release with one cut and a revised disclaimer.

To put it simply, everyone in the industry is aware that any film can face similar scrutiny — often for unforeseen reasons.

FILMS, HASHTAGS, CRITICS

Films don’t face legal hurdles every other day. However, all of them are vulnerable to more criticism compared to the good old pre-social media era, when armchair discussions on films inside living rooms weren’t heard by the entire world. Opinionated and cacophonous, social media sometimes becomes a free-for-all space where thousands scream, quarrel and team up on opposing sides. The end result: one more controversy, big or small.

Long-form analyses come from multiple sources: print media, audio-visual media, news and entertainment websites and YouTube. That means more reviews – and scrutiny.

Consider Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller Dhurandhar, a well-packaged action film with great performances, music and a fast-moving storyline. It faced criticism and became controversial because some called it an anti-UPA, pro-establishment, hyper-nationalistic, ultra-violent, anti-Pakistan, polarising film. That is a lot of criticism for a film that tells a fictional story of an undercover spy in Pakistan, who must do what he can to foil a terror plot against India.

Back in 2019, Dhar had made the National Award-winning war film Uri: The Surgical Strike, a war drama based on the surgical strike in 2016 carried out by the Indian Army Para (Special Forces) on the terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Uri is a dramatised account inspired by the events of the actual military operation.

Just as Dhurandhar was praised, too, Uri received its share of appreciation for its strengths. But, some critics and loud voices on social media found it propagandistic, jingoistic, and even called it an attempt to create a positive image of the government. In fact, one person actually questioned its ability to become commercially successful. Again, strange, considering the film was a hit from day one, and ultimately grossed close to Rs 350 crore, or more than seven times its modest reported budget of Rs 44 crore.

If the subject is sensitive, debates are inevitable. Apart from the legal hurdles, The Kashmir Files, based on the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Valley, gained a lot of attention after its release because viewers came up with conflicting arguments. One section asserted that the film was based on the truth and nothing but the truth, and the other called it communal propaganda that sought to stoke anti-Muslim sentiments. The end result was that the small-budget film made on an estimated budget of Rs 15 crore minted around Rs 340 crore. Such numbers are practically unheard of for a small Hindi film.

What’s most important: a modern-day film does not need to have a hard-hitting subject to become controversial. One scene, a remark by an actor, a few lines of dialogue and even a costume worn in the film can ignite a debate. A trending hashtag — such as the once-popular #BoycottBollywood — can hurt a film’s prospects at the box office. In today’s times, filmmakers must live with these hard truths. They don’t have a choice.

The writer, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature, cinema and pop culture. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.

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