The real, heart-warming Kerala story and a monotone of hatred, falsities in contrast Premium

The Malayalam film ‘The Kerala Story’ is a shocking demonisation of Kerala and Muslims and exists to spread fear among people, writes Nissim Mannathukkaren

Recently, the film 2018 became the highest grosser in Malayalam cinema history and crossed ₹150 crore in box office collection for the first time. The Kerala Story, released at the same time, failed miserably collecting ₹20 lakh in Kerala (and Tamil Nadu). Yet, the film itself collected a humongous — considering its tiny budget — ₹280 crore (and counting) elsewhere.

2018 depicts the heroism of ordinary people, especially the marginalised fishing community, in confronting the catastrophe of the biggest Kerala floods of 100 years. While cinematically, it is not in the league of some of the brilliant Malayalam films, thematically it stresses people’s unity amidst vast social divisions. The Kerala Story is a Goebbelsian film without the cinematic qualities that even some Nazi propaganda films had. It is a shocking demonisation of Kerala and Muslims (other than the infantilisation of Hindu women). Its sole purpose is to scaremonger and establish the Islamic State (IS) as the biggest threat that India is facing presently (even if the now-defeated terrorist group has failed to kill a single Indian in a terror attack, and India has among the lowest number of IS recruits).

As the protagonist of the film says, “Kerala is sitting on live time bomb.”

Also read: Explained | ‘The Kerala Story’: Can a work of fiction or art constitute ‘hate speech’?

If the subtitle of 2018 is “Everyone is a Hero,” the subtitle of The Kerala Story could well be: “Every Muslim in Kerala is an IS fanatic”. The Kerala Story is not Kerala’s story about itself but the nation’s perception of Kerala. And the nation ironically, is in the grip of a majoritarian religious supremacism which constantly searches for enemies — both internal and external. Here, imaginations of pluralism, language, religion, and cuisine are anathema for a homogenised imagination.

The dichotomy between these two imaginations is scarring for the nation. The protagonist and other characters speak Malayalam (sparingly used for effect) with a terrible accent as the makers of the film do not think Malayalam is a requirement for a film based on Keralites. The film that claims to be “The” Kerala Story, and not just “a story from Kerala”, has almost no characteristics of Kerala in it. And the Kerala there is would have been comical if it was not dangerous in its effects.

It is a Kerala in which the protagonist is a vegetarian Hindu woman (even though 99% people eat meat); it is a Kerala in which the protagonist meets Christian and Muslim college peers as if they are aliens (in reality, 45% of the population is Muslim and Christian); it is a Kerala in which colleges have Osama bin Laden graffiti (!); it is a Kerala in which IS radicals openly set fire to homes, sexually assault women publicly and people stand mute; and it is a Kerala in which Deepavali is a main festival.