According to a recent report by Bollywood Hungama, the makers of the film, ‘The Kerala Story’ are now struggling to find a suitable OTT buyer. The report adds that till now, the makers haven’t received any favourable response from major OTT players. Interestingly, the director Sudipto Sen opened up about the future possibilities for the film.
Responding to the reports of the film being ready for streaming, the director said, “No no. That’s fake news. We still haven’t got a suitable offer from any OTT platform for The Kerala Story.” He added, “We are still waiting for a good workable deal from any of the main OTT platforms. But so far, we have not got any offer worth considering. It seems the film industry has ganged up to punish us.”
Elaborating on what could the reason for punishment be, Sudipto said, “Our box office success has irked many sections of the film industry. We have a feeling that a section of the entertainment industry has united to punish us for our success.”
The Bollywood Hungama report added that when they contacted one of the leading OTT platforms to ask why a film as successful as ‘The Kerala Story’ has yet to get a digital outlet, they added that the response was not surprising.
The officials related to the platform said, “We don’t want to get into anything politically controversial.”
Is The Kerala Story not being given OTT platform because of ideological bias?
Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, an ‘industry insider’ stated that ‘The Kerala Story’ did fare well at the box office; however, the topic of the film and its subject matter is something that could invoke a tremendous amount of ire from a certain section of the audience. Given this fact, no major OTT player is ready to acquire the film.
On further reasoning, the insider alleged that the film is a “propaganda film” whereas the OTT platforms focus on intelligent, thought-provoking, and entertaining subjects. Reportedly, the insider said, “You must understand that The Kerala Story comes across as a propaganda film, while OTT channels have been focusing on more intelligent, thought-provoking, and entertaining subjects. In such a case, a film like The Kerala Story does not fit into the genres.”
It is important to note that Adah Sharma-starrer ‘The Kerala Story’ is one of the biggest and clean hits of 2023. The film broke several records at the box office but there were attempts to corner the film and ban it for the subject matter. The film brought a spotlight on subjects like forced/lured religious conversions, ISIS brides, and love jihad.
The film was even banned in West Bengal initially and the makers had to plead before the Honourable courts to get its ban lifted, which was eventually lifted. However, there were reports of the court’s order not being followed in its entirety.
Similar to the ban in West Bengal, many theatres in Tamil Nadu refused to play it, obviously for reasons other than the stated one, that is, ‘audiences are not coming up to watch the film and has rejected it’.
And now, this claim by the makers that The Kerala Story hasn’t received any offer from any OTT buyer, tends to indicate what several outsiders have alleged against Bollywood insiders, that is, the industry has ganged up against them.
