The State of Tamil Nadu has denied allegations of a shadow ban on the movie 'The Kerala Story' in a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court. The State argued that the poor audience response to the movie resulted in its ouster from movie theatres, rather than any government-imposed ban. The affidavit stated that the theatre owners voluntarily stopped screening the film due to poor performance and lack of well-known actors. The State refuted claims of issuing an "alert" anticipating protests and stated that the petitioners have not produced any document to show that the State stopped the screening of the film. The State highlighted that it had deployed over 965 police personnel for the protection of the 21 movie theatres screening the film. The movie is about a group of women from Kerala who join ISIS and has attracted criticism from several quarters. The plea in Supreme Court also assailed the decision of the West Bengal government to ban screening of the movie in the State.
TAGS: The Kerala Story Tamil Nadu Supreme Court counter-affidavit shadow ban poor audience response movie theatres voluntarily stopped screening lack of well-known actors false statements Article 32 petition police personnel ISIS propaganda movie right wing organizations West Bengal government ban screening Kerala High Court Madras High Court PIL public interest litigation.
