The Kerala Story: an experience
The story is an intermix of the original accounts of multiple women blended flawlessly into a single story of 3 friends who fall victim to a global ISIS sex-slave racket.
Before we dive in, let's talk about a few other aspects.
Cast: The main four characters are Shalini, Geetanjali (both Hindus), Nimah (Christian) and Asifa (as you may know) portrayed by Adah Sharma, Siddhi Idnani, Yogita Bihani and Sonia Balani respectively.
It has been produced by one of the big names of Bollywood Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The director is Sudipto Sen.
Performance:
Adah Sharma was at her career best. Her innocent looking face matches well with the gullible character of Shalini who falls prey to the seemingly kind nature of the jihadi Rameez.
Gitanjali whose character is a bit bolder than that of Shalini plays the daughter of a communist father.
Nimah who is more rooted in his Christian practices seemingly escapes the conversion racket but then falls prey in a more traumatizing way. She is bold, she learnt from the mistakes of her friends and fiughts for them.
Asifa, the Muslim jihadi girl is the first point of contact between the conversion racket and the unsuspecting girls. The character played by Sonia Balani is bold, ruthless, cold and daunting. Though she has the beauty of an angel, her eyes spew the venom of her heart. And it is hard not to hate her. Very very well played.
Let's dive back into the story...
A question first,
How do you think young non-muslim women are recruited into ISIS? It's obvious that no woman would go and join if they are told about the scarcity of women to fulfill the needs of the sexually frustrated jihadis. So better start with finding a soft target, and what a great choice Hindus are for this! Ofcourse you start with an all encompassing Hindu who thinks all are one, all gods are the same. That's the point they catch you and tell you misinterpreted things about your dharma about which you know nothing.
Similarly, the Hindu girls of the movie could barely defend their identity and it continued to the point till they decided to abandon it and started wearing hijab. There was a scene where Shalini asked her mother to stop worshipping stones. And guess how the mother corrected her? She slapped her. As if physical violence has ever corrected a mentally brainwashed brat!
There were some unforgettable instances which deserve special mention. In the end, Shalini was asked her name by some office-bearer, and my mind started racing, as if my name was being asked. She will say Shalini? or Fathima? And the response was, my name is Shalini Unnikrishnan, a Hindu from Kerala. And I saw my co-viewers and myself cheering for her and thundering with claps.
There was also this Darshan Kumar-like moment in this movie when Shalini did away with her hijab and it was torched in the bonfire by a little girl. And my theatre started thundering with claps again.
Conclusion:
The movie is subtle but scary, violent and blunt, you are glued to your seat throughout. There were times I had to shut my eyes to escape the gory details. The background score gives you chills. It blends nicely with the ongoing cheat and deceit of the desert cult. These is no nudity but presence of rape scenes may make it impossible to watch it with family, but I believe they are necessary to make you realise how life is like in a desert under ISIS. The deserts are real, the destroyed houses, hanging windows and the broken souls are real.
The movie will make you cry and sometimes even laugh. I cracked into laughter on seeing Zakir Naik scene. Another was when Shalini mentions that she was not told back in India that Sharia doesn't allow mobile for women, and then goes on to reason that there were no mobiles when Sharia law was made.
What I liked
One thing I am convinced about is that the makers have great clarity about what they made. Blunt. Bold. Unapologetic. That's how I would like to put it.
Great amount of research went into this, and this can be seen from their presentation. Women from different nationalities and ethnicities were seen onscreen which tells the viewer about the span of this sex slave racket.
One reality is, you are dragged into the movie, the makers force you to get involved and remain glued to your seat unless you yourself are a jihadi.
Lesson to be drawn
The movie leaves us with one point to ponder upon: what makes these rackets successful and are we in any way contributing to its success?
Final touch
Before we close, special mention to those who may argue that, "These girls willingly join the ISIS, nobody forces them". People must understand one thing, capturing unsuspecting young women is similar to trapping an elephant, the biggest animal of the forest, in a pit.
Your thoughts, comments and concerns are welcome. Let me also know if you have any doubts about our dharma these jihadis might have created in you.
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