As The Kerala Story continues to find itself at the centre of controversy, director Sudipto Sen admits that he had not anticipated the extreme pushback the film has received from certain sections of society. “I was ready for some opposition, yes. But, I was not prepared for such a backlash,” he tells us.

While the film — which revolves around the themes of religious conversion and radicalization — continues to make money at the box office, many have accused it of hatemongering. To address these claims, the makers held a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday, bringing together 26 real-life radicalization survivors.

Calling the political debate around the film “unnecessary”, Sen rues, “No political party should have opposed us as we are talking about the stories of girls and their lives. If only they (political leaders) had said, ‘These girls have gone through enough. Let’s debate over the different aspects to it.’”

The filmmaker, in fact, finds this reaction confusing. “We have been taught by political leaders that terror has no religion. But, when we started talking about terror, they brought in religion. This dichotomous situation was not expected,” he says.