Made ‘The Kerala Story’ to awaken 100 crore people, says director Sudipto Sen

Thane: Director Sudipto Sen of ‘The Kerala Story’ on Monday said 3.40 crore people have so far seen his movie, second only to Shah Rukh Khan-starrer blockbuster ‘Pathaan’.

Speaking at a function here, he said it was the viewership which mattered and not box office collections. ‘The Kerala Story’ has grossed more than Rs 230 crore so far.

He claimed the film had got people discussing certain issues related to terrorism and plotting to convert women to Islam.

He said efforts to discredit the film had not worked and the audiences had accepted it wholeheartedly.

“Some people make films to earn Rs 100 crore. We made this film to awaken 100 crore people,” he claimed at the seminar titled ‘Reality of Conversion and Uniform Civil Code’ organised by the Vande Mataram Sangh and Deen Dayal Prerna Kendra.

Sen said these issues were rampant in areas like Kasargod, Malappuram and Kozhikode in the northern part of Kerala and the rosy picture present of the southern state was not “always true”.

At the event, two women said they were close to adopting Islam but were “saved’ by the Aarsha Vidya Samajam of Kerala.

One of the women, O Sruthi, whose booked ‘Story of Revision’ was released at the event, said youth were drifting towards Islam as their parents were unable to explain properly about the aspects of Hinduism.