Daijiworld Media Network - Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 19: Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday hit out at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his criticism of the sequel to The Kerala Story 2, terming the remarks an attempt to “distract the people” from what he described as the LDF government’s failures.
Chandrasekhar alleged that Vijayan was resorting to double standards on the issue of freedom of expression.
“Pinarayi Vijayan has 45 days more as Chief Minister, and he knows that on the 46th day, he is going to have to move his residence. When a movie came out which is against the BJP, we did not protest or say anything. He quoted Freedom of Expression. How is it that when somebody else makes a movie against his political thinking, it suddenly becomes a problem? This is hypocrisy. This is basically an attempt to distract the people of Kerala from his 10 years of failure,” he said.
The BJP leader asserted that filmmakers have the right to make movies and audiences have the right to watch them.
“I wanted to tell you, Pinarayi Vijayan, that nobody has appointed you protector. There is no need for you to act like you're a protector of any community. Every Indian today, every Malayali, is given the same fundamental rights. Stop making fools out of people. This movie will be shown because just as much as you have the right to watch a movie, I have the right to watch a movie. Just as any director has the right to make a movie, this director also has the right to make a movie,” he added.
Chandrasekhar further said that if there was anything illegal in the film, the government could approach the court instead of allegedly creating fear. “If you have a problem with it, and if there is something illegal in the movie, go to court. But don't try to threaten people. Don't try to use your Chief Minister's position to create fear amongst people that we will not allow,” he said.
Earlier, Vijayan, in a post on X, strongly opposed reports regarding the release of a sequel to The Kerala Story, describing it as a “hate-mongering film”. He alleged that a sequel would be another attempt to incite “communal discord” in the state.
“The reports regarding the release of a sequel to the hate-mongering film ‘The Kerala Story’ should be seen with utmost gravity. Having already seen through the communal agenda and blatant lies of the first part, Kerala will once again reject this attempt to demonise our secular fabric with contempt,” Vijayan said.
The trailer of The Kerala Story 2 was recently released. The film, written by Amarnath Jha and Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, is scheduled to hit theatres on February 27.