Namboodiri, in his petition, challenged the certification granted to the movie, arguing that the CBFC failed to properly assess the impact of the movie on public order, decency and morality as required under Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act of 1952.
Kerela HC
The Kerala High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the producers of The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond, on a petition challenging the certification granted to the movie.
A single bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued the notice on the petition filed by a Kannur native Sreedev Namboodiri, who alleged that the film portrays Kerala in an unfair manner prejudicial to communal and regional disharmony and could lead to law and order issues.
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Namboodiri, in his petition, challenged the certification granted to the movie, arguing that the CBFC failed to properly assess the impact of the movie on public order, decency and morality as required under Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act of 1952.
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“The petitioner apprehends that the upcoming movie will also create a law and order situation, as the teaser, in the end, gives a message ‘ab sahenge nahin… ladenge’ which translates to ‘we will not tolerate it anymore, but will fight’. This is precisely calling for action, which might invoke violence among the public. The trailer of the movie was released on 17.02.2026, which again tries to provoke sentiments of the general public in several spheres,” the petition states.
The petitioner says the grievance centres on the teaser and trailer of the film, which depict women from multiple states allegedly being lured into relationships and coerced into religious conversion. Despite the narrative spanning multiple states, the film is titled “The Kerala Story 2 Goes Beyond”, associates the alleged incidents of terrorism, forced conversion, and demographic conspiracy exclusively with the state of Kerala, the petition states .This creates a misleading regional association and undermines the dignity and reputation of Keralaties, potentially infringing their constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution and further violating the reasonable restrictions to freedom of speech under article 19(1)(a) of the constitution, the petition further states
The Kerala Story 2′ is the sequel to the controversial Hindi film ‘The Kerala story’. The first film depicted a group of women from Kerala, who were allegedly recruited into the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The petitioner has sought quashing of the certification granted to the film and a direction to reconsider certification in light of statutory and constitutional safeguards.
It has also sought for suspension of the film’s release pending disposal of the revision petition; or in the alternative, modifications including reconsideration of the title and insertion of adequate disclaimers.
The matter is posted for further consideration on Tuesday.
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