Director Sudipto Sen, who helmed The Kerala Story, recently made a comment that some believed was a dig at producer Kamakhya Narayan Singh, the director of The Kerala Story 2. At the launch of his upcoming production, Charak, Sudipto claimed his statement had been ‘distorted’ and explained what he meant.
Sudipto Sen denies taking a dig at The Kerala Story 2
Sudipto claimed that his statement was distorted and added, “When I made The Kerala Story, I researched enough to defend every word in it. I even have proof. When The Kerala Story 2 was planned, I was still involved, and Vipul (Amrutlal Shah, producer) ji said till the last day, Dada, you have to do it.”
“But when it was decided that The Kerala Story 2 would also include stories from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, I said, I do not have the kind of research I did for the first film. My knowledge of love jihad incidents in these regions is limited. I wanted to tell more stories, but I did not have time. The person who directed it has spent a lot of time researching,” claimed the filmmaker.
The issue arose when, in an interview with India Today earlier this week, he spoke about why he didn’t direct the sequel and said, “For the first film, I researched the subject for 10 years. I could stand by every word and visual in that film. If the sequel expands beyond Kerala into other states, I cannot rely on WhatsApp forwards or newspaper reports. Sensitive subjects require deep research and long-term study. Without that foundation, I wouldn’t feel responsible enough to direct it.”
About legal troubles for The Kerala Story 2
After a plea to cancel the censor certificate for The Kerala Story 2 was filed, the Kerala High Court ordered a stay on its release. The interim order was passed by Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, deferring the release of the film from February 27 for 15 days. However, on Friday, a bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and PV Balakrishnan lifted the stay, allowing the film to release in theatres as planned.
Before the stay was lifted, Sudipto spoke to ANI and said, “I have not seen the film, nor have I followed the court case. This is a dichotomy. Dichotomy ye hai ki film acha hai bura hai maine nahi dekha to mai comment nahi kar paunga (The dichotomy is that I cannot comment on if the film is good or bad), but a constitutional authority should empower the censor board to take the right decision. The issues of cinema should end with the censor board only.”
Sudipto has produced Charak, directed by Shieladitya Moulik, which will hit screens on March 6.
