The Kerala High Court on Thursday announced the hearing of petitions challenging the censor certificate for the Hindi film ‘The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond’.
The petitioners claimed that the trailer and trailer of the film, which is scheduled to be released on Friday, showed stories involving women from multiple states, though the title was The Kerala Story 2, linking the alleged terror incidents and forced conversion exclusively to the state.
While hearing their pleas on Wednesday, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas noted that no one knew what was in the film. Moreover, the filmmakers were not interested in showing the film (so that the court could see it – a demand the court made on Tuesday), the court said.
The petitioners alleged that during the film’s promotion in Delhi, none of the 37 women depicted as victims of “forced conversion” were from Kerala. Yet Kerala was mentioned in the title, while the first film’s trailer with the title referred to 32,000 women from the state being trafficked for conversion.
The trailer and trailer seem to show what they can’t show in theaters. The CBFC as a statutory body must remember that it is bound to ensure that the title of the film is not misleading or offensive as it could cause law and order problems. Ultimately, screening the film could lead to people hailing from Kerala facing discrimination and tarnishing their reputation on the basis of their “place of birth”, they said.
Furthermore, the right to free speech does not entitle anyone to denigrate any community. The mention of ‘Kerala’ in the title as well as in the film The Kerala Story released in 2025 are stereotypical references aimed at offending people in a state known for communal harmony, the petitioners said.
The filmmakers refuted these arguments and claimed that films can be uploaded on social media even without a censor certificate. Meanwhile, the film’s producer filed an affidavit in the court saying that the objections to the film’s release were “premature, misconceived and unsustainable”.
Its producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah said that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is the “only professional body” under the Cinematography Act 1952 to examine films as a whole and certify them for public release. The exhibition of a certified film cannot be limited to just a two-minute trailer without exploring the entire film to be released in India as well as overseas.
Additionally, the qualifier “Goes Beyond” in the film’s title was a deliberate and conspicuous textual signal that the film’s narrative transcended the geography of Kerala.
Published – 25 Feb 2026 20:36 IST
