Our Bureau
New Delhi
‘The Kerala Story’ that was released in 2023 was marked with a plethora of controversies from several different sectors. The movie, themed out on religious conversion, upon its release faced a huge backlash with many claiming that the movie was propaganda driven and targeted a certain community. However, the movie has been given its due credit finally as it has received multiple national awards.
This Friday, on August 1, the movie- The Kerala Story won two Awards at the 71st National Film Awards. The award for the Best Director was given to Sudipto Sen and the award for the Best Cinematography was given to Prasantanu Mohapatra.
The Feature Film Jury of the National Film Awards was led by renowned filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker known for Bollywood classics like Lagaan, Swades and Jodha Akbar. The veteran director recognised and appreciated The Kerala Story in the two above mentioned categories.
Gowariker was asked several questions on what the jury appreciated in the movie to award them the honours at the National Film Awards. The Kerala Story which had polarising opinions all across the country with being banned in some states while being completely tax-free status in others and despite that was able to win two National awards.
Gowariker emphasized the realistic nature of the way the film was presented and how the makers did complete justice to how this difficult topic was presented to the audience. He clarified that the jury thought the director and cinematographer should be awarded for the way they presented the topic.
The filmmaker stated, “One is the cinematography award. The cinematography in The Kerala Story was very stark and realistic. It didn’t ever try to overpower the narrative; the images were created within the realm of things. So, we applauded that. It’s a difficult topic and to convey that with the kind of clarity that as a jury we felt the need to applaud it.”
