Tamil Nadu Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu on Thursday issued a memorandum instructing all the top officials in the state to be on alert ahead of the release of the Hindi film, The Kerala Story, in theatres on Friday. Addressed to the commissioners and the superintendents of police, the memorandum stated, "In view of the expected release of the film ‘The Kerala Story’…few organizations have raised objection to the release and it is anticipated that the members of these organizations may resort to various forms of agitations."
Further instructions in the DGP's memorandum urged for the deployment of man-power and providing proper security during the screening of The Kerala Story, with the police asked to conduct anti-sabotage checks, including the viewers also maybe being frisked with the assistance of the theatre security staff. The DGP in the memorandum also asked officials to resort to strict action against any individuals creating violence and keep a close watch on all social media platforms for objectionable and inflammatory content.
Produced under the Sunshine Pictures production banner, The Kerala Story is directed by Sudipto Sen and stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani in the lead roles. The film has courted controversy for claiming that some women in Kerala after converting to Islam were recruited to join the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Earlier on Thursday, the Madras High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) to stay the release of The Kerala Story in Tamil Nadu. Justices AD Jagadish Chandira and C Saravanan rejected the petition filed by one BR Aravindakshan, a journalist. The court had asked the petitioner why he approached them at the last hour and said that had he come earlier, they would have asked someone to watch the film and then arrive at a decision. Furthermore, the court stated that they were dismissing the petition since he addressed the issue without watching the film.