The High Court slammed the brakes on the sequel 24 hours before release. No Sudipto Sen, no Adah Sharma, and a massive legal mess.
I woke up this morning to a notification that my ticket for the first-day-first-show of The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond was invalid.
Just hours before the February 27th premiere, the Kerala High Court slammed the brakes on the film with a 15-day interim stay. The chaos is palpable. If you thought the first movie was a firestorm, the sequel has already become a nuclear political event before a single frame hit the big screen.
The confusion is absolute. I checked BookMyShow, and while some theaters in Mumbai are still showing available seats, others have scrubbed the listing entirely. This isn’t just a movie release; it’s a legal standoff.
The “Beef” Scene That Triggered The Ban
The headline is the ban, but the real story is the court’s observation of “non-application of mind” by the CBFC (Censor Board).
The trailer features a scene where a Hindu girl is forcibly fed beef—a moment that has ignited a wildfire of backlash across Kerala. Critics are calling it “hate propaganda” designed to incite communal tension. When I watched that clip, it felt less like storytelling and more like a deliberate provocation. The nuance of the first film, however debatable, seems to have been replaced by blunt force trauma.+1
Red Flag: Where is Sudipto Sen?
The biggest shock for me wasn’t the ban, but the absence of Sudipto Sen. The man who helmed the first blockbuster stepped away, explicitly citing a “lack of research” for this sequel.
That should have been the first red flag. Instead, we have director Kamakhya Narayan Singh taking the reins, and the tonal shift is aggressive. When the original creator walks away because he can’t verify the facts, why are we buying tickets?
No Adah Sharma? The New Cast Gamble
I admit, I was disappointed to see Adah Sharma missing from the poster. Her performance anchored the first film.
This time, the burden falls on Ulka Gupta. From the little footage I’ve seen, she is delivering an intense, high-decibel performance, but she lacks the eerie, quiet dread that Sharma brought to the role of Shalini. The narrative has expanded beyond Kerala to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which feels like a strategic move to widen the “market” rather than a genuine sequel. It feels like branding, pure and simple.
Final Verdict
The Kerala Story 2 is currently a movie that exists only in court documents and angry tweets. The High Court’s intervention proves that cinema is still the most volatile battleground in India.
My advice? Don’t book tickets yet. Wait for the 15-day stay to lift (if it ever does).
Jordan Blake is a rogue film critic and former VFX compositor with over 15 years of industry experience. Tired of paid reviews and “safe” opinions, Jordan left the studio system to tell the audience what Hollywood won’t. He specializes in forensic frame-by-frame analysis, exposing bad CGI, and decoding hidden lore that others miss.
Known for his “no-nonsense” approach, Jordan pays for his own tickets and refuses to attend press junkets, ensuring his loyalty belongs only to the fans. If a movie is a cash grab, he’ll say it. If it’s a masterpiece, he’ll explain why technically.
Specialty: VFX Breakdowns, Script Analysis, Hidden Details.
Motto: “Cinema doesn’t lie, but marketing does.”
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