Mumbai: The makers of the upcoming film The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond have approached the Apex court, after the Kerala High Court granted an interim stay on the release of the film Thursday.
The Kerala High Court noted that, prima facie, there is a non-application of mind by the Censor Board while certifying the movie.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas passed the stay order while hearing two petitions challenging the film’s release. The court noted that the guidelines intended to prevent disruption of social harmony appeared not to have been followed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond was slated for release on Friday. In an affidavit filed on Wednesday, producer Vipul Shah stated that only the censor board has the authority to halt a film’s release.
The film is a sequel to the National Award-winning The Kerala Story, which was released in 2023. The film follows the lives of three young women who, as shown in the narrative, get into deceptive marriages and are allegedly subjected to forced religious conversion.
Earlier, reports stated that the teaser of The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond was briefly released online before being pulled down across official social media handles, triggering fresh debate around the franchise’s already contentious positioning.
The makers of the upcoming film The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond, have cleared the air around the reports of the film’s teaser being pulled down. The production house behind the film, Sunshine Pictures, shared in an official statement that such reports are false and misleading.
They said in a statement, “Sunshine Pictures would like to categorically clarify that the news currently circulating regarding the removal of The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond teaser is completely false, baseless, and misleading. The matter is presently sub judice. No judgment or order has been passed by any court directing the removal of any content. We have not deleted or taken down any material”.
The original The Kerala Story attracted intense scrutiny, legal challenges, and political reactions over its claims and portrayal of sensitive social themes.
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