London: A section of the Indian diaspora in Britain is furious after ‘The Kerala Story’ got mysteriously pulled from cinema websites and all the tickets bought were refunded as it failed to get classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in time for its release.

It was due to be released in Hindi and Tamil in 31 cinemas in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 12. But out of the blue on Friday, all cinemas stopped ticket sales from their websites and all shows were cancelled.

Saloni Belaid had bought three tickets on Wednesday to view the movie at Cineworld on May 12. On Friday afternoon she received an email, which TOI has seen, saying: “Due to the lack of age certification for The Kerala Story by the BBFC, we have had to cancel the booking you made. We have processed a full refund. We apologise for any inconvenience.”

She told TOI: “Loads of people had booked to see it this weekend and our screening was 95% full.”

The BBFC said: “The Kerala Story is still going through our classification process. Once the film has received a BBFC age rating and content advice, it will be available to be screened in UK cinemas.”

Scores of British Indians expressed their disapproval on Twitter. “Surely BBFC is not delaying as part of its move to appease the extremists?” tweeted Kapil Dudakia.

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London: Suresh Varsani, director of 24 Seven Flix4U, which is distributing ‘The Kerala Story’ in UK, was forced to contact all the cinemas at midday on Friday and ask them to pull the film as it is illegal to release a film in Britain without classification.

He said, “It is very concerning. I gave them the film on Wednesday and there were three versions — Hindi, Tamil and the Malayalam. They watched one on Wednesday and the other two Thursday. Age classification is normally done on the day.”

He has been emailing the BBFC since Thursday and all they keep telling him is that “compliance is reviewing it”. On Friday he called them and they confirmed it won’t get classified that day. He emailed and called again and they did not respond.

“I am very suspicious that they have not given a valid reason. Why do they need more time when they have had three days? I have never come across a situation like this where a film has not been classified when it is meant to be released. USA, India, Australia and Canada and Ireland have all passed it. I don’t get what the issue is,” he said. Varsani said between him and the cinemas they have lost a combined £40,000 to £50,000 (Rs 40 to 50 lakh).

The Hindu Community Organizations Group UK, which represents more than 45,000 Hindu and Jains, has written to the BBFC requesting an immediate investigation.

But not everyone wants the movie released. “OK Ki Report” tweeted: “Never screen this film, it is actually made to spread mischief, its purpose is to spread hatred against Muslims for political gains.”

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The Kerala Story was released in over 200 screens in the US and Canada on Friday. “The Kerala Story is a mission which is beyond the creative boundaries of cinema, a movement that should reach the masses all over the world and raise awareness,” director Sudipto Sen told a group of Indian American reporters during a virtual news conference.