The Tamil Nadu government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday the government did not impose any shadow ban on the film ‘The Kerala Story’ and the theatres stopped screening the film due to poor audience response. The development came as the apex court issued a notice to Tamil Nadu based on the plea of filmmakers, who alleged that the government has imposed a de facto ban on the movie. The government submitted that the filmmakers are deliberately submitting misleading statements in court and the government has not imposed any ‘shadow’ ban on the screening of the film ‘The Kerala Story. ’"The exhibitors have themselves stopped the screening of the movie due to the poor audience response and the government cannot do anything to increase the audience patronage for the said film, except to provide security to the cinema theatres," an affidavit filed by Tamil Nadu said.
The government emphasised that the decision was made by the cinema owners based on criticism received by the film, poor performance, poor audience response, etc. "The multiplex owners took the decision to stop screening the film from May 5 in view of the criticism received by it / lack of well-known actors / poor performance / poor audience response. The State exercises no control over decisions. It is reiterated that this decision was made by the theatre owners on their own and the State had no role to play over the same," the affidavit added.The government said that the film was released in 19 multiplexes and the filmmakers have submitted no document to prove that the State stopped the screening of the film. Tamil Nadu government even deployed forces outside these multiplexes, so that people can see this film without the fear of any ‘law and order’ issues. The affidavit mentions deployment of 965 police personnel including 25 DSPs were posted for the protection of the 21 movie theatres where the film was screened.The film depicts how thousands of young women were allegedly brainwashed into joining the Islamic State (IS) and heading off to countries like Syria and Afghanistan.' The Kerala Story', starring Adah Sharma, was released in cinemas on May 5.