The Kerala Story, the new Hindi release this week, may be mired in controversies, but it has earned a very important seal of approval. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the film while speaking in an election rally in Karnataka on Friday, while attacking the Congress for opposing the film. Hours later, the film’s producer Vipul Shah reacted to PM’s statement, saying it vindicated their stand.

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The Kerala Story hit the screens on Friday. The film, based on religious conversions and love jihad, has faced several calls for ban and court cases as well. The Congress was among the few political parties to term the film ‘political propaganda’. Speaking at an electio rally in Ballari on Friday, PM Modi also waded into the controversy.

In a video from the rally shared by news agency ANI, the PM said in Hindi, “Over the last few years, a new form – dangerous form – of terrorism has been created. You can hear bombs and guns but there is no sound of a terror plot to destroy the society from within. Even the court has expressed concern at this new form of terror. The Kerala Story film is based on a similar terror conspiracy.”

As the crowd cheered him, PM Modi added, “There is a lot of talk about The Kerala Story these days. They say the film is based on terrorist’s nefarious plots for just one state. This film exposes terrorists' designs for such a beautiful state with hardworking and talented people. It shows the ugly truth of terrorism. It is the misfortune of this country that Congress is opposing the film made on terrorism and standing with terror tendencies. Congress has shielded terrorism for the vote bank.”

Earlier in the day, the Kerala High Court had refused to issue a stay order on the film’s release. Reacting to both these developments, the film’s producer Vipul Shah told PTI, “"What more can we ask on a day when first in the morning, the Kerala High Court gives such a lovely judgment and none other than the honorable Prime Minister talks about our film and he highlights the issue that we are trying to highlight through the film. We have been saying this is a film against terror, terrorism, it is not against any community, religion and that stand is vindicated by none other than the honorable Prime Minister.”

Directed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani. The film focusses on three women from Kerala who are brainwashed into converting to Islam by ISIS. The film claims to be based on real events and the makers’ claim that this is the story of 32,000 such women has caused major controversy.