00:00And joining me on the broadcast today, our Kerala Story 2's director, Kamakhya, and producer, Mr. Vipul Shah.
00:06Thank you so much for speaking to India today.
00:08I firstly want your response on the biggest controversy right now, Kerala Chief Minister Pinaray Vijayan,
00:13who's described the film once again as a propaganda and an attempt to malign the state.
00:18How do you respond to this?
00:22Whom do you want to answer?
00:24Mr. Shah, you can go first.
00:25You start.
00:26Yeah, so with very great respect, I want to tell the Chief Minister of Kerala that A, we are not
00:37maligning any state.
00:39Kerala is our God's own country, beautiful country.
00:42I love it.
00:43We all have gone multiple times to Kerala.
00:46We all know how pretty it is.
00:48But just because it is as pretty as it is, it doesn't mean that it does not have criminals.
00:53Now, let me ask another counter question to the CM, with all humility at my command,
00:59that after the first one, when we were accused of lying about the number of 32,000 girls,
01:06on 6th of June that year, we had put out a YouTube video explaining the number of 32,000 girls
01:14with names.
01:15The organizations which had a certain data to a data which was already published or already was put on the
01:24floor of the house.
01:26Now, if the intention that is attributed to us that we are trying to malign the state,
01:35what about the data which was tabled in the assembly?
01:39And that was somewhere around 7,800 girls in two years.
01:44So when we put that 32,000 data, we actually expected the government to take really harsh action against all
01:53those criminals
01:54and end this nexus in Kerala completely.
01:58And to be very honest, I'm not aware what actions have been taken.
02:03We are requesting the CM through this video again one more time with folded hands
02:09that kindly take action against those criminals, end this crime in Kerala
02:16and make sure that you end it so well that we cannot make, even if we want to make Kerala's
02:22story 3,
02:23because there is no case in Kerala after this.
02:26So if he does that, then there will be no question of maligning the state.
02:30And neither will we get any chance.
02:33I'll take this to Kamakhya because Mr. Pinaray Vijayan says that this is a film that is a propaganda.
02:39It's spreading hate.
02:40And this is just an exaggeration.
02:43It's not really the state of Kerala that all of this is happening.
02:49Yes, it's not only the state of Kerala.
02:51It's happening all over India.
02:53But it's happening in Kerala also.
02:55And it's not propaganda.
02:57It's truth.
02:58So truth is sometimes hard to digest.
03:02I would request humbly the chief minister, sir, that he goes, studies the judgments, studies the case studies,
03:10looks at the FIRs.
03:12He will understand we are speaking the truth.
03:15As a filmmaker, we are responsible filmmaker.
03:17We don't propagate lies and false narrative.
03:21Everything what we have shown in the film is based on the true events.
03:26And we can request him to study the materials.
03:29I can send him all those materials.
03:31Okay, I'll come back to that.
03:32I would like to just add one line over here.
03:36And you will be aware of all these cases.
03:39There was this guy called Jalaluddin alias Jangur Baba was caught in UP.
03:45I think a year, I think a year and a half back.
03:48And there was an allegation.
03:50He's in jail right now.
03:51And the allegation is that he's converted more than 3,000, 4,000 girls.
03:55There is another case of Mohamed Gautam who has been, you know, put behind bars, life imprisonment punishment given by
04:04the court for converting more than 1,000 girls.
04:07Recently, I think 15 days back, there is a gentleman by the name of Prince who was actually posing to
04:15be a Hindu and has converted or allegedly converted more than 300 girls.
04:20You all have seen the gym jihad where the gyms were used to trap the girls.
04:26If thousands and thousands of girls are being trapped into this, and after that, if somebody turns around and says
04:34that this is a propaganda and this is a lie, then I don't know how to respond to something which
04:40is so evident.
04:41And just to tell you why they're all concerned about the fact that, you know, we should not be propagating
04:49so-called lies through our film.
04:51I have never seen even one reaction on Twitter, Instagram or anywhere when such guys are caught regularly.
05:00They're not condemned by the same people who want us to stop making this film.
05:05So it is very evident that which side they are on.
05:08I take your point because all of this has been reported.
05:12I do take your point there.
05:13But as a producer, I want to understand from you, given the sort of political reactions that are coming in
05:17once again, and you face this in 2023 as well.
05:21But are you anticipating resistance or fresh attempts to block the release of this film in certain states?
05:29Are you prepared for that possibility?
05:32It is possible that some people will be very upset with the fact that we are exposing more people and
05:38we are exposing a nexus and trying to save so many families and so many girls' lives.
05:44So when you do that, some people do get uncomfortable and they will attempt.
05:50But we have full faith in our judiciary and I think the courts will be able to deal with it
05:58if that's the matter.
06:00And the rest of it all, see, when you are making a film like Kerala Story, when you are exposing
06:05such a big nexus, somewhere down the line, somewhere in your heart, you do know that some people will get
06:15very, very upset with you and they will try and target you.
06:18And that's something I have to be ready for.
06:22Okay.
06:22Kamakhya, I want to come back to you.
06:24While I agree with you, Mr. Shah, conversion is a reality.
06:27But Kamakhya, while I was watching the trailer, it did suggest that one story that hailed from Rajasthan, one from
06:33Madhya Pradesh and one from Kerala.
06:35In that scenario, would it be fair for the title to be Kerala Story 2?
06:42It's Kerala Story 2 goes beyond.
06:44It's a spiritual sequel of Kerala Story 1.
06:47In Kerala, see, communication is a tool to sensitize people and filmmaking is one of them.
06:54In first, what we said as a narrative that there are this kind of things happening in Kerala, people accepted
07:01it, people went to the theaters, watched, and there was a talk among the society.
07:07People started saying that this is a thing which is happening only in Kerala.
07:11So, we wanted to tell everyone in this country that it's not only in Kerala, it is everywhere.
07:18In every street, in every state, in every city, there is someone who is there standing to trap your daughter,
07:27sister, mother.
07:28And we want to make everyone conscious, sensitized that this is a trap.
07:35Let's get out of this.
07:36Okay, hence I extend my question here to really get your side of the story, to understand the due diligence,
07:42the research that has gone into shaping the film, especially now, Kerala Story 2.
07:47And you've seen the sort of consequences that happened the first time around, despite the adulation and admiration that the
07:55film also enjoyed.
07:56This time around, what is the research that has gone into it and where is it that you're picking from?
08:04See, last three years, we have been doing the research.
08:09I have been doing documentaries on demography.
08:12And when I was doing those documentaries, I understood love trap can be a great instrument to take our girls,
08:21to use them for change of demography.
08:27And then I realized that we should do a film.
08:30And Vipul sir was writing this film with Amanat Jha.
08:32And then we started conversation and we started doing it.
08:36So, last three, four years, I've been meeting the victims, I've been meeting the parents, I've been meeting the police
08:41officials.
08:43Everyone has been telling me that, yes, there is a problem.
08:47And there is a serious problem that the gangs, the goons are planning to change the demography of this country.
08:55Mr. Shah, you know, you continue to say that this is a film to spread awareness, to let all the
09:02innocent girls know that this is a reality.
09:04But there is also the other section that says that it deepens communal divide, it's spreading hate.
09:11How do you address those concerns, given the sort of impact this can have through your storytelling?
09:18I'm surprised with that kind of an accusation because when Jangur can convert 3,000, 4,000 girls and there
09:26is no social disharmony,
09:28or Mahmoud Gautam can convert 1,000 girls and there is no social disharmony,
09:34but when I make a film and we show something, some true cases in the film,
09:39then the only then there will be a social disharmony.
09:42It's a very imbalanced approach in our life.
09:47I can understand that if the reaction on every case, when they were caught, was equally vehement and strong,
09:55then I would have understood this comment. This is purely an agenda-driven criticism of the film.
10:03There is no truth to any of the criticism. We are exposing whatever is thrown at us and people are
10:11seeing through it that we are telling the truth and that is why people are connecting with the film.
10:16Obviously, our truth is making a lot of people uncomfortable.
10:19So then how do you discredit the film? By saying that, oh look, this is going to create a disharmony.
10:25So I'm surprised that when thousands of girls' lives are destroyed, at that time, the social harmony is not disturbed
10:34and only a film will disturb it.
10:36That's not a right assumption.
10:38That's not a right assumption.
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