'Houseful Shows, PM Modi's Shout-Out': Will The Kerala Story Recreate The Kashmir Files Phenomenon at Box Office?

Vipul Shah’s production The Kerala Story has managed to create a hype around it despite having no mainstream star cast. The film, starring Adah Sharma of Commando fame, hit theatres on Friday (May 5) amid major controversy and multiple petitions challenging its release. The Kerala Story revolves around the stories of Hindu women from Kerala who were converted to Islam and trafficked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The petitions have claimed that the film about women in Kerala joining ISIS is not based on facts, and propagates hatred against the Muslim community. A section of the internet has, in fact, compared the Sudipto Sen directorial with Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files, which also faced backlash and boycott calls at the time of its release for allegedly vilifying the Kashmiri Muslim community. However, the film turned out to be a blockbuster at the box office and ran for more than two months in theatres. It was based on the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990.

Amidst the ongoing comparisons between the two movies, we spoke to film business experts to find out whether The Kerala Story has the potential to go The Kashmir Files’ way at the box office.

“Gone are the days when a film would only work because of its star power. Today, content is king. Of course, exceptions are always there, but nowadays people prefer good stories. This film has a great buzz. It should definitely pick up the pace over the weekend. I hope it works as it will be a good thing for our industry,” producer and film business expert Girish Johar told us.

Interestingly, The Kashmir Files, starring Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi, had a slow start at the box office as it only managed to collect Rs 3.5 crores on day 1. But the film gained momentum over the weekend through positive word of mouth. While it earned Rs 8.50 crores on its second day, the film’s day 3 collections were more than Rs 15 crores. The film did a lifetime business of Rs 340 crores gross worldwide. And, film trade analyst Taran Adarsh is “quite confident” that The Kerala Story could be a “big surprise” at the box office, just like The Kashmir Files.

“The response to The Kerala Story has been outstanding,” Adarsh said. “I watched the film today and the theatre was immensely packed. I was told by the theatre management that shows are going houseful. The Friday numbers are going to surprise everyone and the film will definitely pick up the pace over the weekend. It’s too early to say that the film will recreate The Kashmir Files phenomenon, but I’m confident that it might do it.”

If movie business analyst Atul Mohan’s prediction is to be believed then the day 1 collection of The Kerala Story is going to break The Kashmir Files’ opening record. “The Kerala Story is likely to earn between Rs 6 crores to Rs 7 crores on day 1 which are very good numbers, considering it was released in limited screens,” Mohan said.

However, Mohan believes that it will be a little tough for The Kerala Story to surpass the lifetime box office collections of The Kashmir Files as it’s not been getting very great reviews. “If you look at The Kashmir Files, the film had received decent reviews, especially from the movie-going audience. The reviews for The Kerala Story are mixed so far. The Kerala Story can go The Kashmir Files way at the box office only if the moviegoers show it the same kind of support,” he added.

Moreover, The Kerala Story has found big support in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had earlier called out those who were opposing The Kashmir Files, saying that “there’s a conspiracy to discredit it.”

At an election rally for the BJP in Karnataka’s Bellari on Friday, PM Modi said that The Kerala Story exposed how terrorism was corroding Kerala. He also said that Congress was defending terrorism by trying to “ban” the film.

“Terrorism has taken a new form now. Apart from using weapons and bombs, they are working towards making society hollow from the inside out. ‘The Kerala Story’ movie has exposed this new face of terrorism. The movie sheds light on how terrorism is corroding the society of Kerala. And now, Congress is supporting those elements who are defending terrorism by trying to ban this film,” Modi said.

It will be interesting to see if these immensely packed theatres and the shout-out from PM Modi will help The Kerala Story become the next ‘Kashmir Files’ of Indian cinema at the box office.

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