You won’t be able to watch ‘The Kerala Story’ in West Bengal as it has been banned across the state in a bid to maintain “peace and harmony”. In Tamil Nadu, the film has been taken out of almost all theatres as “a precautionary measure”. However, in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, you can watch it at a discount with the BJP governments in these states making it tax free.

Such widespread polarization on films, rarely seen before, is set to dominate the political discourse in the year which will witness assembly polls in five states in a few months, followed by the general elections next year.

The success of the film amidst the ongoing controversy over its storyline which has given boost to BJP and other saffron organisations’ claims of forced conversions, love jihad and radicalization of the Muslim youth under Islamic State (IS) influence.

Since the controversy erupted, BJP has been vocal about the issues depicted in the film and even PM Narendra Modi made it a major poll issue in Karnataka saying the movie has exposed the consequences of terrorism in a society, especially in a state like Kerala, a beautiful land of hardworking, talented and intellectual people.

His reference to the movie at a rally in Ballari set the tone for other party functionaries as they highlighted the “menace” in Kerala which has a long boundary with Karnataka. Law minister Kiren Rijiju called the ban in some states an “absolutely intolerant act.”

The SC on Tuesday agreed to hear on May 15 a plea challenging an order of the Kerala HC refusing to stall the screening of ‘The Kerala Story’. Accepting the request of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, a bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha slotted the special leave petition for hearing on Monday. The Kerala HC had last Friday said it didn’t find anything offensive in the film’s trailer.

NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad has said ‘The Kerala Story’ producer should be hanged in public. “They have not only tarnished the image of Kerala but have also insulted the women of the state,” he said. “They had said 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS, but the real figure is three,” he told a news channel.

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on Tuesday said he has sent a legal notice to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for defaming his movie “The Kashmir Files”. Banerjee on Monday banned the screening of “The Kerala Story” and criticized “The Kashmir Files” as a movie made to humiliate one section of society.

The director of “The Kerala Story”, Sudipto Sen, said he hoped West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee would “reconsider” her decision to ban it. “It is more unfortunate that it is coming from the state which is the champion of human rights, free spirit, free souls,” Sen said.