Director Sudipto Sen won Best Director for ‘The Kerala Story’ at the 71st National Film Awards. The film sparked nationwide debate and conversation upon its release in 2023. In an exclusive chat with India Today, Sen called the honour a validation of years of research, perseverance, and public support.

“Naturally, I’m feeling great,” Sen said shortly after the National Awards win. “But I would have been even happier if the film had also received the principal award. Still, it’s a vindication of what we set out to communicate.”

When “The Kerala Story,” starring Adah Sharma, was released in 2023, it sparked intense debate in addition to overwhelmingly positive audience reception. The movie became a box office success in spite of the divisive debate.

Sen highlighted how ‘The Kerala Story’ began as a small effort but gained a great deal of recognition and admiration after its release.

“We have already received audience blessings as our prize. The movie is still being discussed on social media two years after it was released. For almost 35 weeks out of 70, we were in the top 10 on OTT platforms. We saw that type of passion and involvement,” he remarked.

Despite having a little budget and no promotion, the movie, which concentrated on the purported ISIS recruitment model in India, moved viewers.

“We didn’t anticipate it growing so large. “This award feels like a reward for that journey after ten years of research and struggle,” he continued.

Sen recognized the initial anger but maintained that the narrative altered after people saw the film when asked if the National Award felt like closure after the difficulties surrounding it.

Indeed, there was some initial uproar, but it subsided as viewers realized the movie wasn’t about religion but rather a very genuine and important problem. We were demonstrating how ISIS had roots in India as well, specifically Kerala, and how its recruitment strategy had affected regions of Europe and America, Sen said.

He went on to say that because of political sensitivities in the nation, particularly with regard to the word “Muslim,” “The Kerala Story” was frequently mislabeled.

Sen started the project in 2012, and Ambika JK, a Keralan partner, had been working on it since 2010. For the director, receiving the award is the result of more than ten years of arduous work, not merely acknowledgment.

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The Kerala Story:

Sen revealed that he had just spoken with actor Adah Sharma, who portrayed the lead part, in response to a question about whether he had spoken to anyone since the news broke.