The West Bengal government boycotted The Kerala Story

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sought an immediate restriction on screenings of the controversial film 'Kerala Story' to prevent "any form of contempt and cruelty", a senior official said here. Any theater showing the film will be penalized, the official said. Earlier, Banerjee called 'Kerala Story' a distorted film aimed at maligning the southern state. "The CM has ordered an immediate ban on the screening of Kerala Story to maintain peace in the state and prevent all acts of hatred and violence." Any film violating the ban will be dealt with, the bureaucrat told PTI. Directed by Sudipto Sen, Kerala Story is about how the Islamic State terror group recruited women converts to Islam from Kerala. The film was released on May 5. Due to its plot, The Kerala Story received a lot of criticism in the southern regions. The film is set in Kerala and features women from Hindu and Christian communities who are forced to join ISIS and manipulated into becoming Muslims. Due to the poor reception of the film in certain southern parts of the country, theater owners in places like Chennai may have decided to stop showing it. According to ongoing reports, theater owners have claimed that the release of Kerala Story will affect the release of various films. Regarding the theater owners' relationship with NDTV, a statement from an insider said, "Due to the rule of law, any film shown on the packages of channels showing that film will remain valid. This will affect our revenue. So this choice has been made. It is . " We have heard that many screening centers have stopped online booking of the film and removed it from their screening register. The decision came after the Madras High Court rejected a plea to ban the film.