After the teaser of the upcoming movie The Kerala Story appeared on November 2, Tamil Nadu-based journalist Aravindakshan BR filed a petition seeking Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Prasoon Joshi to ban the movie.
Aravindakshan BR sought director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Amrutal Shah to submit documents to prove the veracity of the information that is presented in the teaser for not banning the movie, according to a report in The News Minute.
Meanwhile, the makers of the movie reportedly claimed it was inspired by true events.
Teaser controversially, featuring actor Adah Sharma, presents that a large number of women in Kerala have been forcibly converted before being inducted into the Islamic State.
A hijab-wearing actor, who is seen in a teaser, introduced herself as Shalini Unnikrishnan, who wanted to become a nurse and serve humanity. She added that her name was changed to Fatima Ba and now spending time as an ISIS terrorist in jail in Afghanistan.
The woman as the report quoted went on saying, "I am not alone. There are 32,000 girls like me who have been converted and buried in the deserts of Syria and Yemen. A deadly game is being played to convert normal girls into dreaded terrorists in Kerala, and that too in the open. Will nobody stop them? This is my story. This is the story of those 32,000 girls. This is The Kerala Story."
Aravindakshan has taken up the matter with the Kerala Chief Minister's Office (CMO) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Sunday, according to the report.
The Kerala government directed its police chief to take appropriate action. Aravindakshan requested the CBFC to issue the censor clearance certificate to the movie only if the director substantiate that the claims in the movie teaser are based on data from India's intelligence agencies.
On social media the teaser received mixed responses while many criticised it, many others came out supporting The Kerala Story's team.