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The Kerala Story review
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Filmi Score
Poor
9 reviews
12
What the critics say
Audience Score · not yet · appears once three readers have written a review
Critics are nearly unanimous that the film is crude, inept propaganda that distorts real events and uses graphic sexual violence to demonise Muslims, with only Adah Sharma's earnestness and Kerala's cinematography drawing any praise.
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Summary
The Kerala Story (2023, Hindi) has a Filmi Score of 12 from 9 critic reviews, is rated 18+ by Filmi (CBFC: A), and streams on ZEE5 in India.
A converted Muslim woman narrates her ordeal of how she once wanted to become a nurse but was abducted from her home and manipulated by religious vanguards and turned into an ISIS terrorist and landed in Afghanistan jail.
Where to watchAvailability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.
Box office collection
No sourced figure yet.
Cast & crew
Cast
Directed by Sudipto Sen · written by Sudipto Sen & Vipul Amrutlal Shah & Suryapal Singh · music Bishakhjyoti & Viresh Sreevalsa
Sudipto SenWriter · Director
Vipul Amrutlal ShahWriter
Suryapal SinghWriter
BishakhjyotiMusic
Viresh SreevalsaMusic
Prashantanu MohapatraCinematography
Sanjay SharmaEditing
Adah SharmaLead
Yogita Bihani
Sonia Balani
Siddhi Idnani
Eleena Koul
Saniya Mirzaeva
Benedict Garrett
Bhavna Makhija
Chandra Shekhar Dutta
Vijay Krishna
Pranay Pachauri
Usha Subramanian Saksena
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Summary
A converted Muslim woman narrates her ordeal of how she once wanted to become a nurse but was abducted from her home and manipulated by religious vanguards and turned into an ISIS terrorist and landed in Afghanistan jail.
The Kerala Story (2023, Hindi) has a Filmi Score of 12 from 9 critic reviews, is rated 18+ by Filmi (CBFC: A), and streams on ZEE5 in India.
Where to watch
Availability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.Not streaming yet
Not streaming yet
Not streaming yet
What the critics said
9 reviews · the critic’s own number where they gave one
Five of 9 · the critic’s own number where they gave one
Anuj Kumar · 5 May 2023
Kumar finds the film emotionally exploitative and guided more by local politics than cinematic sense, though he credits Adah Sharma's earnest… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
27
Nandini Ramnath · 5 May 2023
Ramnath argues the film is itself an act of brainwashing, weaponising disputed statistics and Islamophobic tropes to target the audience; she… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
15
Zinia Bandyopadhyay · 5 May 2023
The Kerala Story Movie Review: A serious issue lost to bad direction, worse writing Read it there →
Published · 1/5
Filmi’s reading 12
20
Pratikshya Mishra · 5 May 2023
Mishra finds the film uninterested in its own screenplay, using graphic sexual violence for shock value while distorting the real stories it… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
12
Shubhra Gupta · 5 May 2023
The Kerala Story movie review: A poorly-made, poorly-acted rant Read it there →
Published · 1/5
Filmi’s reading 10
20
Sowmya Rajendran · 5 May 2023
Rajendran calls the film a no-nuance propaganda exercise that thrives on shock value, detailing graphic sexual violence used to demonise Muslim… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
10
Deepanjana Pal · 5 May 2023
Pal argues the film is pure propaganda that exploits real victims' trauma to push a sexist, Islamophobic agenda, with inept writing and direction… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
10
Deepa Gahlot · 5 May 2023
The Kerala Story Review: Distorted Read it there →
Published · 1/5
Filmi’s reading 8
20
Saibal Chatterjee · 5 May 2023
The Kerala Story Review: The Writing Is Consistently Cringeworthy, The Acting Is No Better Read it there →
Published · 0.5/5
Filmi’s reading 8
10
How this number was made. We read every review and derive a 0–100 reading from each — including where the critic printed a number, which stays first on its row, because it’s theirs. The Filmi Score is the mean of 9 readings; 4 of those rows also carry the critic’s own rating, shown beside ours. Rubric v2.1, computed 26 Oct 2026. Any critic can ask us to remove a derived reading.
PublishedStated in videoDerived by FilmiNo score
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The Kerala Story: quick answers
Box office, where to watch and what critics said — from the same data as the page.
Where can I watch The Kerala Story?
The Kerala Story is streaming on OTT: ZEE5 (India). Availability comes from JustWatch and is checked every Friday.
What did critics say about The Kerala Story?
The Kerala Story has a Filmi Score of 12 (Poor), the mean of 9 readings of critic reviews, one per review. Readings run from 8 (Rediff) to 27 (The Hindu). Every review and how it was scored is listed below.
What readers say
The Audience Score appears once three readers’ reviews have been read under the rubric — built from what people write, never from the rating numbers.
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