The Kerala Story tells the story of a group of women who get brainwashed into leaving their country and religion and are also tricked into joining ISIS. The film is not for the faint-hearted and has several shocking scenes. A few sequences stand out but overall, it is not an A-grade product, in terms of execution, storytelling and even performance. It is on the lines of The Kashmir Files but that film was smartly made and had supreme performances. Most importantly, it was also based on true events. In the case of The Kerala Story, it’s difficult to believe that what is passed off as true stories has actually happened at such magnitude. Also, the makers, it seems, are trying to project that all members of a particular community are horrible and that Kerala is the worst place on earth. Speaking of performances, Adah Sharma does well followed by Siddhi Idnani (Geetanjali), Yogita Bihani (Nimah Mathews) and Sonia Balani (Asifa). Pranay Pachauri (Ramiz) and the other actors don’t put up a convincing act. All in all, The Kerala Story disappoints.
My rating – ** out of 5!