Sudipto Sen directorial The Kerala Story has been embroiled in controversy ever since its release. From bans on its theatrical release in some states to backlash from a section of the audience, including celebs, the film — which has amassed Rs. 200 crore — has seen it all. Now, actor Kamal Haasan has reacted to the controversy surrounding the film, which deals with religious and ideological conversions at its core.

“Propaganda films I am against,” Haasan said at a presser in Abu Dhabi, adding, “It’s not enough if you just write ‘true story’ at the bottom as a logo. It has to really be true, and that (the film) is not true.”

When asked what kind of stories he’d like to see on the big screen, he said, “I think you have to hit the true chord with the audience. That kind of cinema is not [any] one kind of cinema... All kinds of cinema should come over. And, I am a great fan of smaller movies. [They are] like babies that grow up to be something really big. I also became a star through these kind of smaller films, which made it big with the audience.”

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As his film continues to get branded as ‘propaganda’, director Sudipto Sen prefers to not react. “Earlier, I used to try and explain. But today, I don’t do that. Those who didn’t see it (the film) are criticizing it; just the way it was not released in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. These guys didn’t see the film, so they think it is propaganda. There are very stupid stereotypes in our country. Life has to be black or white; people don’t know life exists in the grey,” he tells us, on the remark by actor Kamal Haasan.

Currently hospitalized due to dehydration and infection, Sen says he isn’t averse to criticism. But, one needs to watch the film and then speak, he feels.

“In 37 countries, people are liking the film. Even if they have criticism, they are calling and discussing it with me. A person is indulging in propaganda by calling it a propaganda film, without watching it. What else would the words be than hypocrisy or petty! I have stopped explaining,” he adds.