'The Kerala Story': Who Is Director Sudipto Sen & Why Is His Film Controversial?

Both Sudipto Sen – and producer Vipul Amrutlal Sharma – are not new to controversies.

Director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Amrut Lal Shah are the makers of Adah Sharma-starrer 'The Kerala Story'.

(Photo: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

Even as it is yet to hit the theatres on 5 May, The Kerala Story, a feature film directed by Sudipto Sen, is at the centre of a political storm in Kerala. 

The film's claim that "approximately 32,000 women" in the state were radicalised and coerced into joining the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has invited the wrath of the state's CPI(M) and Opposition Congress, who said "the movie was an attempt to destroy the communal harmony of the state" – and should be banned from screening in the state.

Even as the film finds support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there are many joining in to call out the film – and those behind it.

So, who's behind the film, what do we know about them, and is their claim of "32,000 women" even adequately substantiated? We explain.

Sudipto Sen and His Past Works

The Kerala Story's director Sudipto Sen is an independent filmmaker. Some of his works include Aasma (2018), Lucknow Times (2015), and The Last Monk (2006).

Even prior to The Kerala Story, Sen had courted controversy in April 2018. Sen's previous work, In the Name of Love, was also about the alleged religious conversion of women in Kerala. The hour-long documentary was called out by many.

The director also claimed that he was physically assaulted, and that his screening was disrupted by Left-leaning groups at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. In a Facebook post, he stated that JNUSU had "lynched" and "raped" art, artists, artistic expression, and freedom of speech.

Sen added that it was his patriotic duty to expose the manner in which thousands of girls were converted and trafficked abroad. He also made his stance against the communism clear, stating that it has become increasingly irrelevant and "dying its own death."

So, How Did Sen Arrive at the 32,000 Figure?

In an interview with Citti Media in 2021, Sen had said that he arrived at the number 32,000 based on figures given to the Kerala Assembly by former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. However, the fact-checking news website AltNews found that there was "no proof" to support this claim.

As per an India Today report published in September 2012, Chandy said that 2,667 young women had converted to Islam in the state since 2006, without mentioning an annual figure, AltNews had reported. Chandy's figure was also just about conversions, and had nothing to do with "women being kidnapped by ISIS" – as claimed in the movie's teaser.

Sen told Citti Media that "in 2010, I documented a case where he (Chandy) said that every year approximately 2,800 to 3,200 girls were taking up Islam. Just calculate it for the following 10 years, and the number is around 32,000."

Speaking to AltNews, which sought proof of these claims from him, he said, "Let the intolerance reach a crescendo. I'll share my data after the film is released. Why should I defeat the cause of my film?"

There is no substantial evidence in the public domain to corroborate Sen's claims. Most of his online supporters say that while the number may or may not be right, the film is based on a true story, and that banning it can be an attempt to curtail the creator's freedom of expression.

The BJP's president in Kerala tweeted:

What Do We Know About Producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah?

The Kerala Story is bankrolled by Sunshine Pictures Private Limited, founded by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. As a producer and director of films and TV shows in India, he has mostly backed stories that are centered around police officers, the Indian Army, RAW agents, and terrorists.

Thy include Akshay Kumar’s Holiday: A Soldier is Never Off Duty, John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha's Force 2, and the Commando franchise with Vidyut Jammwal in the lead.

In 2012, he courted controversy after speaking up about the "political gains" involved in the "overt regressive censorship" behind his film The Dirty Picture.

"When you can have bold shows like Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao and Bigg Boss being aired, why not The Dirty Picture, which had its cuts in place and had gotten a U/A certificate?"

Vipul Amrutlal Shah

Also, Elnaaz Norouzi of Sacred Games fame had accused Shah of sexual harassment. In October 2018, during the #MeToo movement, the Iranian model-turned-actor alleged that he made sexual advances during her "audition" for a part in his film – Namaste England.

He had, however, approached the Indian Film & Television Directors' Association's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which had gave him a clean chit in 2019, following an investigation.

What Has the BJP Said?

After the release of the teaser in November 2022, several BJP bigwigs had come out in support of the film.

Amit Malviya, in charge of BJP’s national IT department, tweeted, "The Kerala Story movie's teaser has run into rough weather with powerful forces trying to scuttle the movie. A formal complaint has been filed with the Kerala police to check the veracity of the claims made in the trailer. Who are these people who don’t want the truth to come out?"

Amit Malviya's tweet on The Kerala Story.

(Photo: Twitter)

The Quint had reported earlier that the Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) directed Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner to register an FIR against the crew of the film based on a complaint sent by a Tamil-Nadu based journalist to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

In order to check the status of the complaint, The Quint reached out to the commissioner. On 15 November, he told that based on legal opinion, no FIR has been registered yet.

K Surendran, the Kerala state president of the BJP, criticised the Kerala government for filing a case against the filmmakers. He said that the Kerala government had no right to register a case as they advocate for freedom of speech and expression.

He tweeted, tagging the chief minister of the state:

"The Kerala government, which has failed to tackle Islamic fundamentalism, love jihad, and people joining ISIS, has ordered that an FIR be filed against the makers of the movie "The Kerala Story." Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan should have the guts to act against the ISIS recruiters in Kerala instead."

What Are Those Opposing the Film Saying?

VD Satheesan, a Congressman and the leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, has demanded that the film be banned.

“I have seen that teaser. It's a clear case of misinformation. There is nothing like that happening in Kerala. This is to tarnish the image of Kerala in front of other states. This is spreading hatred, so it should be banned. In normal scenarios, we are against banning films, but these types of misinformation will lead to communal issues," the Congress party leader was quoted as saying by India Today.

"There is no record with state police. If there is anything with central intelligence, they have to bring the public. These are the records, these are the list of women, these are the addresses of the women who joined IS, they were recruited from Kerala."

VD Satheesan

Rajya Sabha member and CPI(M) leader John Brittas wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking strong action against the makers of The Kerala Story as it, "severely threatens harmony, secularism and national unity apart from defaming Kerala."

He stated that the teaser's claims that 32,000 women from Kerala radicalised to join ISIS terrorist group is "absolutely rubbish and fallacious."

(This explainer was originally published in November 2022. It has been reposted from The Quint's archives.)